Once Upon A Dream
by Number54
Summary: The 99th class of Seisho Music Academy has ultimately decided to put on a production of Sleeping Beauty for the year, and of course, Tendou Maya and Saijou Claudine are expected to be cast in the two main roles. However, when an unprecedented and unexpected change takes place in the casting list, one thing leads to another.
1. That Look in Your Eyes

**A/N: ****I have had this on my computer months way before the disappearance of Tendou Maya even happened, so...**

**Based on Disney's Sleeping Beauty so I may or may not have included lines and song lyrics from the movie in this thing, but all of that belongs to them.**

**All chapters are completed and ready and will be posted every Monday.**

**That's pretty much it. I hope you guys like it!**

**\- 54**

* * *

"Hey, guys! The cast list is out!" Karen cupped her hands around her mouth so that her voice would carry over the entire room to get the attention of the other girls inside.

At the brunette's announcement, everyone scurried over to see which part went to whom and who would be working backstage, who would be designing costumes, and who would be doing pretty much everything else there was to do behind the scenes.

"Yes! I'm the evil witch!" Kaoruko shouted to the ceiling above with her arms raised in victory before bringing one arm back down into a fist pump.

"Why is it that doesn't surprise me?" Junna said mostly to herself as she looked around at no one in particular, which Nana had overheard and couldn't help but giggle at.

Futaba was next after her blue-haired companion, bringing her finger up to trace down the cast list until she had found her name next to her role.

She hummed. "The prince's father, huh? Should be a piece of cake."

Nana didn't need to take her turn at the bulletin board because of the perks that came with being tall (not to mention the fact that practically anyone could see over Futaba with her short stature), and cast the class representative a dazzling smile once she had caught a glimpse of their roles.

"Looks like we're the king and queen, Junna!"

At this news, the purple-haired class representative felt her face grow hot as blood abruptly rushed to her cheeks before bringing a hand up to adjust her glasses as a sort of nervous tick she had. "A-are you sure?"

Futaba hummed, tracing her finger down toward the middle of the paper before nodding her head in confirmation. "Nana's right, Jun. See for yourself. It's right here in black and white."

Junna moved to take Futaba's place at the bulletin board a little too quickly, which probably would've knocked the redhead over if she hadn't already moved away so the class representative could confirm it for herself.

Clearing her throat and adjusting her glasses once more, Junna scanned the casting list for their names and sure enough, the roles of the king and queen had been awarded to her and Nana respectively.

At seeing the proof on the paper, Junna's face grew hotter to the point where it felt like it was on fire. "This is quite the interesting development."

"Is it, Hoshimi?" Kaoruko butted in from where she was standing at the side, hands clasped behind her head and that shit-eating grin that Junna loathed to the utmost degree plastered on her face. "Is it really?"

The purple-haired class representative groaned internally, refusing to give Kaoruko the satisfaction of hearing her exasperation out loud. The director had definitely hit the nail right on the head with casting the blue-haired devil as the malicious and downright evil Maleficent. This role was practically made for Kaoruko Hanayagi in Junna's mind and probably in the minds of everyone else that had known her.

Nana only offered a small, sympathetic smile and a comforting pat on the shoulder to show Junna that she sympathized with her pain.

"We're the three fairies!" Karen chattered to Mahiru and Hikari with practical stars in her eyes. "I'm Flora! Mahiru, you're Fauna! And Hikari, you're Merryweather!"

"Oh, that's wonderful, Karen!" Mahiru exclaimed, grasping the brunette's outstretched hands as the two jumped excitedly in place before stopping to prod the other female standing next to her. "What about you, Hikari? Aren't you happy, too?"

If the dark-haired female was as equally excited as her two best friends, she didn't show it, only offering a solemn nod in reply.

Junna pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation and silently thanked whatever divine being was above that the scenario of these three fleeing to a cottage in the woods to raise a baby for sixteen years was something that would only occur in the script and not something that would actually occur in reality.

But if it were to be a real occurrence in the future (which of course Junna knew the chances of that happening were slim to none), Mahiru would be the most reliable in the motherly caretaker sense. And judging by how many times she corralled and coddled the other two females a day, Mahiru would be raising _three _children instead of one.

"Hey, Kuroko!" Futaba called out to the only female in the room who hadn't paused her stretches to look at the casting list with everyone else. "Don't you wanna see what role you have?"

_"Oui!" _ The blonde called back in reply as she continued to stretch. "Just give me a few more seconds!"

Claudine had already began her pre-class routine of stretches before Karen had announced the posting of the casting list, and while everyone else had quit and gathered on the other side of the room to see which role or job they had gotten, Claudine continued to follow through with her warm ups.

She couldn't allow herself to be distracted at the moment. Sure, pausing in the midst of her warm up routine to go check the list to see what role she had been given wasn't much of a distraction, but it would interfere with the amount of time she could spend preparing for this class. And if it interfered with her time, it was a distraction in her book, no matter how small that distraction was.

Throughout the course of her young life, there had been many people that told her to spend her time wisely, and that was a piece of advice she had taken to heart and applied it whenever necessary.

"Shouldn't we just tell her?" Kaoruko asked Futaba in a bored tone, hands still clasped behind her head. "Seems like she's gonna take a while."

And that's when Maya Tendou walked into the room, long hair flowing behind her as she continued her trek further into said room and spoke in that booming voice to signal that she was present and ready for class.

"Something tells me that won't be necessary, Kaoruko." Futaba replied, watching as the top two students in the room made direct eye contact with each other, which caused Claudine to stop what she was doing to address the top star.

"And here I thought you weren't going to show up." Claudine crossed her arms and looked up at the taller female.

Maya's mouth tilted upwards in a small smirk. "You, of all people, should know me better than that, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh boy!" Kaoruko smacked Futaba's back at the palpable tension in the room. "Ringside seats!"

The smaller girl sighed at the blue-haired female's antics as she watched her attempt to get closer to the action in the middle of the room before looking over at Junna, who released a very tired sigh.

They hadn't even began production of the play, and yet Junna found herself already exhausted just from weighing in on what possible consequences the casting list had in store, ranging from the possibility of Karen, Mahiru, or Hikari breaking any props while acting as the three fairies during rehearsal or perhaps even on stage during the real thing to the extreme possibility of the pyrotechnics of the fire that Kaoruko would appear from during the very first scene in the castle during the welcoming of Princess Aurora into the world backfiring and causing some costly damage.

But class B, who would be handling a majority of the jobs behind the scenes, was a very capable bunch. The notion of any fires or other disastrous mishaps were just part of Junna's onstage jitters, which she was surprised hadn't disappeared completely yet because she had been in a ton of productions. You'd think the jitters would've went away by now.

But when you have the disastrous trio of Karen, Mahiru, and Hikari, the conniving, blue-haired devil Kaoruko, and the constantly brewing, confusing chemistry between the pair of Claudine and Maya that ranged from murderous to downright sickeningly love-struck both on and off the stage all together in one production, anything was possible.

Along with herself, Nana and Futaba were perhaps the only reliable ones on board with this production and would definitely be kept on their toes throughout this whole thing.

That brand new, unopened bottle of ibuprofen Junna had put away inside her desk drawer in her and Nana's room would definitely be put to use throughout this whole thing. Her liver be damned.

And she would most likely be breaking in that bottle directly after class it seemed as she, along with the rest of the girls in the room, watched what was unfolding between the two top stars as they continued conversing.

"Do you always have to be so infuriating?" Claudine narrowed her eyes and was infuriated further when she noticed that the brunette's smirk seemed to grow.

"If it keeps you on your toes, then I can't see a reason to discontinue it."

"You're annoying twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, Tendou Maya. If you were to stop now, I think you would be lost."

"You are correct."

Kaoruko turned back to Futaba and the rest of the gang and pointed to the conversing pair over her shoulder before mouthing something along the lines of "Are you guys seeing this shit?"

Hikari continued to watch on boredly without acknowledging the snooping blue-haired devil while Nana, Karen, and Mahiru nodded their heads wordlessly. Futaba pinched the bridge of her nose and Junna inwardly imagined banging her own head on the closest flat surface around her.

Maya turned her attention from an obviously agitated Claudine and set her sights on the cork board on the other side of the room, speaking as she made her way over with the blonde hot on her heels.

"I was told that the casting list would be released this evening, so what kind of performer would I be considered if I were to be absent on this day?"

"Heaven forbid your reputation be tarnished," Claudine fired back sarcastically with an eye roll that went unseen by the brunette walking in front of her. "We can't have that."

"How considerate of you." Maya said as stoic as ever, a characteristic about the brunette that absolutely annoyed Claudine to no end. How could Maya sound so narcissistic yet not sound so narcissistic at the same time? The statement alone even cancels itself out.

But if that's the game Maya wanted to play, then Claudine was more than willing to be player number two.

"Well, someone has to keep you in check, don't they? What kind of performer would I be if I were to let my competition slack off? If that were to happen and I ended up beating you, it wouldn't even be a satisfying victory."

Maya hummed. "I applaud you for the checkmate."

The pair came to a halt at the casting list on the board. Since Maya had been in front of Claudine, she was the first to scan for her name and seemed to study it for a bit before nodding once and stepping to the side so the blonde could see what her role would be.

Claudine brought her index finger to search for her name in the list, going down through the rows of names and the roles beside them, and instantly felt a surge of panic when she didn't see her name on any of them.

One more time. It had to be here. Maybe she was just overlooking.

So, she started over and scanned the paper once more. Still nothing.

Maya, who had been standing next to the blonde, sensed her initial distress and craned her neck down to the side to whisper to her as a means to not alert any of the nearby girls at what was going on at that moment.

"Left side. Very top."

Claudine's finger traced back over the paper, using Maya's words as a map to her name's location and was taken back once she realized the location of the placement of her name.

Reading her name and the role she had been given sent shock waves through her whole entire being.

_Saijou Claudine - Princess Aurora/Sleeping Beauty/Briar Rose_

The blonde reread it one more time to justify what her eyes were seeing and kept rereading it until it sort of got through to her brain.

And for further justification, she peered down at the name just below hers and immediately felt a sense of lightheadedness at the one name she had not expected to see below her own. Ever.

_Tendou Maya - The Prince_

"Saijou-san?" Maya prodded with a hint of worry in her voice. This was definitely not how she had expected the blonde to react upon seeing that she had finally beaten her out for the top spot in something. "Are you okay?"

Claudine only staggered back slightly as a response.

"She's going to faint!" Mahiru exclaimed as she looked upon the scene with wide eyes.

"Somebody catch her!" Nana shouted, pointing in Claudine's direction and hoping it would spur someone into action.

Futaba hadn't even taken a step forward and Karen had already bolted past her like a bat out of hell.

"I'll catch her!" Karen announced to everyone in the room, coming to a halt right behind the blonde and holding her arms out for her. "Fall into my arms, Kuro-chan!"

But it wasn't Karen's awaiting arms into which Claudine fell, but the arms of a fast acting Tendou Maya, which ended up looking like she was dipping the blonde during one of their many dance routines.

And Claudine didn't know if it was the lightheadedness from the initial shock of seeing that she had finally acquired the top role of the titular character in this play or the gratefulness in which she felt to her tall savior for not letting her hit the ground, but whatever it was made her notice just how close Maya was to her.

So close that she could see the passion and fire in those lilac colored irises that had yet to burn out despite the fact that she had just lost her top spot this time around. Sure, she had always noticed those particular qualities about Maya's eyes, but in her current state of lightheadedness, it seemed as if they had amplified to a pinnacle that must have been unlocked while in the midst of this current situation.

Seeing Maya's eyes in this state relieved Claudine immensely. It meant that even though the brunette had finally been overcome this time around, her passion still burned as brightly as it did before. If not even more so.

A person's eyes were the window to their soul, after all. It didn't matter if you were a top tier actor/actress or anything of that sort, the mouth could speak whatever you wanted it to, but the eyes were things that did not pretend or tell lies.

With Claudine still in her hold, Maya stood straight up to put them in an upright position, arms still around the blonde just in case she was still suffering from the dizzy spell.

"Can you stand?" Maya whispered softly, their closeness still completely intact.

The porcelain skin of Claudine's face had turned a bright red, but whether it had been from the spell of dizziness or the spell placed on her from Maya's gaze was an absolute mystery. The blonde herself probably wouldn't even be able to discern what had caused the blush to form had she even realized she was doing it, but she most likely would have blamed it on the lightheadedness.

Claudine moved slowly away from the tall brunette as a means to retry her footing without her help. However, Maya stayed close for fear of having the star of their next show injure herself.

"I believe I'm fine for now. Thank you." Claudine replied softly before turning around to face the taller female once more. "I'm more worried about you, though. Are you okay?"

The tension of the bickering (which had been mostly on Claudine's part) seemed to do a perfect one-eighty into a tension of the softer kind, which was the basic core of the kind of relationship the pair had. Sometimes it was vice versa. They could be speaking to each other with the utmost respect they had for one another, and then Maya would make a comment that would, unbeknownst to the brunette, strike a nerve in Claudine's ego and the rest was history.

"Of course," said Maya with no hint of any kind of reluctance. "If anyone in this room should have the privilege of being Sleeping Beauty, it is most definitely you, Saijou Claudine. With utmost certainty."

Claudine had known that if there were to be a day when Maya would lose her top star position to someone else, she would react in the most dignified way possible despite whether or not it felt like as if the rug had been pulled out from under her. She was definitely a good sport in every aspect, but still. It had to have hurt at least a little.

Heaven knows it sent a twinge of hurt through Claudine whenever she would be bested by Tendou Maya time and time again, so of course it had to have hurt Maya at least a little.

But if the small loss _did_ slightly wound her, she didn't show it at all. However, she was a top caliber actress for her age. She could've hidden it easily.

Then Claudine remembered the glimpse she had gotten of Maya's eyes while in her lightheaded stupor just a few minutes ago. Eyes didn't lie. They never did.

And it had occurred to Claudine that the twinges of pain she herself had felt in every defeat only served to stoke her determination even more afterwards. It was just like adding more fuel to the fire.

Maybe the same case applied for Maya's situation?

That's when Maya bowed before resuming her erect posture. "I look forward to being your prince."

More blood rushed to the blonde's face, which she could now feel since her dizzy spell had faded as quickly as it had come.

She had imagined this so many times in her head before. The great Tendou Maya bowing to her and accepting her defeat. Before, she imagined it would feel like the icing on the cake to firmly seal her victory that she had known would come one day.

But seeing it actually happen in real life was different.

Maya had definitely been gracious about it like she expected, but Claudine couldn't help but feel as if she had, indeed, pulled the rug out from under the brunette's feet. But again, Maya still showed no hints of any indifference to not being the star of the next show.

Maybe it was just Claudine's empathetic side coming out. She had been defeated over and over again, so she knew what it felt like to fail.

But she also knew there was a difference between her hurt and the hurt that Maya may or may not have felt.

Claudine was used to getting bested by the other female. Maya just had better stage presence than she did, and she always backed that up. But for Maya to suffer failure just once would undoubtedly feel like a harsh slap to the face. When you're used to succeeding over and over, a small setback probably felt like you had the wind knocked out of you, or at least that's what Claudine imagined it to feel like.

She could have been overthinking it all, but Maya had to at least have some kind of hurt hiding in there somewhere or maybe she didn't.

But as she got yet another glimpse of Maya's lilac colored irises, she could still see the burning passion within them that had been there a few mere minutes ago.

So, her dizzy spell hadn't made her imagine it. The burning passion _had_, indeed, seemed to have grown bigger than before. Claudine had never seen anything like it.

She had desperately tried to avoid that hypnotic gaze over and over again, and mostly failed because of the fact that Maya's gaze was so intense and downright smoldering that it had completely drained her will to fight all the way down to zero.

But with the way the flames of Maya's fiery gaze had appeared to look like a full blown wildfire that someone had thrown a gallon or two of gasoline on, Claudine's will to fight hadn't even shown up for battle.

And apparently that same person toting the gasoline used to stoke the already burning fire in Maya's eyes had thrown some on Claudine's cheeks as well.

"You look like you have a fever, Kuro-han," Kaoruko spoke up from the side with her shit eating grin. "Maybe Tendou-han should walk you down to the nurse's office."

"Oh, shut up." Claudine swatted at the blue-haired devil, hitting nothing but the air as Kaouruko dodged with a giggle.

Maya tilted her head, face softening with worry. "You do look a little warm. Perhaps a trip to the nurse's office would remedy that? Do you need me to escort you down there?"

"No, thank you," Claudine rejected, outstretching her hand to keep the taller female at bay. "That won't be necessary. I'm fine."

Maya's denseness proved to be a thorn in Claudine's side many times, but right now she was thankful the brunette didn't catch on to Kaoruko's implication.

"Very well," Maya complied. "I look forward to our time on the stage together, Saijou Claudine."

Tendou Maya. Always with the etiquette, no matter how close she was with someone. Not that Claudine would ever call their relationship a close one, but they did have conversation and know things about the other that no one else knew.

As she watched Maya move gracefully and without flaw to the other side of the room to begin warm ups, she inwardly agreed that she would confront Maya about her earlier thoughts later on whenever the opportunity would come when they were alone.

And again, those purple flames popped back into her brain's imagery and made her think that maybe the hurt she imagined Maya having even only a little was practically nonexistent.


	2. Is So Familiar A Gleam

"So, this guy walks into a barber shop, right? He asks "Bob Peters here?". And the barber says back to him "No, sir. We only cut hair here."!" Karen says, bellowing with laughter while eliciting a mix of groans and laughter from the other eight girls in the shower area.

"And just when I thought the last one you told was vulgar." Junna called out in reply.

"Oh, come on, prez!" Kaoruko was the next to call out. "They're all vulgar! It's just that that one was actually pretty funny!"

"You got any more over there, Karen?" Futaba asked.

"As long as they aren't any more about someone walking into a bar or some other place," Claudine added, rinsing her hair clean of the shampoo. "Then I'll be quite content."

"Why not? I quite enjoyed them." Said the ever comically deprived all throughout her young life Maya.

Claudine felt her mouth shift into a smile. "Of course you would, Tendou Maya."

"I know a few more, but Hikari has this really funny one that she told me and Mahiru the other day," Karen said while in the middle of washing her face. "Don't you, Hikari?"

The dark-haired girl in question said nothing.

"You remember, don't you?" Karen asked, poking her head around the wall that served as the divider between her own stall from Hikari's. "You know, the one about the guy getting shipwrecked on the deserted island with the dog and the pig?"

"Okay," Junna announced, quickly shutting off her water and reaching outside for her light blue towel to wrap around herself. "I've heard enough for tonight. Nana, I'll be in our room going over the king's lines when you get out."

"Okay, Junna!" Nana called out, nearly finished with her own shower.

Kaoruko waited until Junna was most likely out of the shower area and out of earshot before she called out to Nana on the other side. "How do you handle such an uptight stick in the mud, Nana-han?"

Nana ran a hand through her wet hair as a means to get all the conditioner rinsed out. "Junna has never really been one for humor, but she does have her good qualities."

"Please elaborate. You've piqued my curiosity," The blue-haired devil said with a small grin that no one could see. "Or maybe some of those good qualities you're talking about aren't meant to be heard in a public setting?"

Nana didn't miss a beat, quickly shutting off her water and grabbing her own yellow towel. "Oh dear, I seem to have ran out of hot water! Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours!"

Kaoruko scoffed. "That was the fakest excuse I have ever heard."

"Well, you did kind of put her in a bad spot with that question," said Futaba, nonchalantly. "I'd probably react the same way, too, if someone were to say something like that to me."

"Yeah, but it's different when you're trying to hide something that's as plain as day to the people around you, you know? How long do you think Hoshimi and Nana will continue trying to hide their relationship? I mean I'd come right out with it and tell them we know they're fucking, but you won't let me." Kaoruko said, running her hands down her face while the water streamed downwards onto her hair.

"It's just common courtesy, Kaoruko. I keep telling you that over and over again." Futaba rolled her eyes in the comfort of her own stall where the blue-haired devil couldn't see.

"Yeah, yeah, I get the picture."

"I think it's sweet to be honest," Mahiru was the next to speak. "I don't see why they would want to hide it since we would all be accepting of it, but I'm sure they have their reasons."

"I agree with Mahiru," Karen said. "I think it's really cute that Banana and Junna are sweet on each other like that!"

"Oh, gag me with a spoon," Kaoruko fake wretched but held a small smile on her face. "Of course you two lovebirds would think that, What about you, lovebird number three? It's a group discussion, so it's recommended that you participate."

The room was silent for a bit with the exception of running water hitting the floor in each taken stall, but then Hikari spoke.

"Agreed."

"Kuro-han? Tendou-han? You two are quiet over there. Enlighten us with your perspectives on the matter." said Kaoruko, having already finished up her own shower and was just standing there under the water, letting it cascade down her blue hair.

"It's been a long time coming, and it's definitely very adorable. They fit each other quite well." Claudine was the first to speak up.

"What Daiba and Hoshimi do in private isn't really anyone's business, but Saijou is correct. Their relationship dynamic is a very strong one. Anyone in this school can see that, regardless of how much effort they put into keeping it a secret. You have to commend them for that, however. I imagine hiding a relationship must be difficult." Maya said.

"But why would you want to hide it? Futaba and I don't have anything to hide, and everyone at this school knows for a definite fact that Tsuyuzaki, Aijou, and Kagura have something going on, and I'm pretty sure I've heard rumors going around school that you two do as well." Kaoruko explained, leaning against the wall of her stall, shit eating grin as present as ever.

This was enough to make Claudine poke her head out of the stall, eyes narrowed into a glare at the blue-haired devil on the other side of the room. "What rumors?"

Futaba also poked her head out of her own stall and glared at her roommate.

"What?" Kaoruko shrugged her shoulders at the shorter female. "Don't give me that look! I thought she knew!"

Futaba sighed exasperatedly and resumed finishing up her shower.

Rumors had been brewing for months that the two top students at the academy had been involved in a secret love affair. With each other no less. Futaba knew those rumors were false because if they weren't, she would have been the first person that Claudine would have confided to about it, or at least she thought.

But if it were to come out that Maya and Claudine were, indeed, involved in that sort of way, it wouldn't have surprised Futaba one bit.

Not that she would let that slip to the blonde any time soon. Maya would probably be a good sport about it, though.

_"Déverse-la, Hanayagi," _Claudine seethed. "Spill it. What rumors?"

"You and Tendou-han are the talk of the town, Kuro-han. Apparently, you two are involved in a secret love affair, but you can't come out with it because Tendou-han's parents will come to the academy and whisk her far away from here if they ever found out, and you would be so heartbroken about it that you would drop out of the academy and scurry on back to France and be a shut in for the rest of your life." Kaoruko explained.

_"C'est absurde! _That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard! And let me guess, you had a hand in spreading them, right?"

"I would never!" Kaoruko placed a hand upon her heart, faking shock at the blonde's insinuation. "Please, Kuro-han. I might be underhanded, but I'm not _that_ underhanded. I might've exaggerated that last part about you dropping out and being a shut in for the rest of your life, but only because I wanted to see your reaction. The rumors aren't that extreme, so calm down a little bit, huh?"

Claudine dropped her head and let out a very slow sigh before retreating back into her shower.

"Besides," Kaouruko continued, crossing her arms while still leaning against the wall of her stall. "If you want my opinion, it's like something out of a damn story book. Or maybe a trashy novel if you include the dirty parts. I guess you two being cast as Sleeping Beauty and the prince is probably icing on the cake for those rumors when you actually think about it."

Maya had been quiet during this whole thing, eavesdropping but not technically eavesdropping on the conversation between the blue and blonde haired females. However, no one noticed the way she longingly stared at the wall that served as the divide between her and Claudine while leaning on the wall in front of her with her hands and letting the water fall down her long brunette hair, but then she spoke.

"Very well. I shall see to it that these rumors will be set straight first thing tomorrow morning."

Claudine could've sworn she had heard a slight melancholy tint to the brunette's usually confident voice and paused her shower to stare at the dividing point between her and the taller female. That sure didn't sound like Tendou Maya to her.

Was it time for the sadness of losing to finally seep through the impenetrable walls of Maya's mental stronghold? Maybe the pain that Claudine imagined Maya would most likely have was real?

Then Claudine remembered the way Maya's eyes looked after their roles in the play had been revealed. Eyes did not lie. That's one thing the blonde definitely knew.

A passion that intense could not be faked.

If someone was in pain or in a state of sadness, shock, or whatever other kind of melancholy emotion a human being could feel, their eyes would have a dimness that reflected that certain state of mind.

Maya's lilac colored eyes had been more radiant than ever before. A definite contrast to the dimness of a person feeling any sort of melancholy emotion.

Claudine couldn't understand any of it. She didn't want Maya to be sad because sadness just didn't suit her at all. Or anybody for that matter. But for some odd reason, Claudine couldn't bare the thought of Maya feeling any sort of sadness or any kind of self-doubt. The top spot was something Maya treasured dearly and to have that pulled out from under her had to have been a shock in itself.

Or maybe Maya was indifferent about the loss and would carry on like it was nothing.

Claudine tilted her head back and sighed slightly in satisfaction when it cracked. Overthinking a situation was something she was definitely a professional at, and she knew it would be for the best to just put a kink in the gears of her mind and let it be until she managed to get some assurance from Maya that would put it to rest.

"Honestly, it's not even worth worrying about, Tendou-san," She said, shutting off the water and wringing out her hair. "Girls are going to talk about anything and everything, so we might as well just let them have that to talk about."

Maya also turned off her own water. "If you think that would be for the best, then I will honor that."

Kaoruko rolled her eyes, having already stepped out of the shower with her pale pink towel around her. "And this is the very reason why there are rumors floating around. You two got it bad for each other, and you don't even know it."

Futaba sighed. "Come on, Kaoruko. You've beaten them up enough for today. Let's get dressed and go see if Nana has started cooking yet. I'm starving."

"You know it, too, Futaba," Kaoruko fell in line behind the smaller female as the two trekked to the door. "You can't stand there and tell me that those two-..."

As soon as the blue-haired devil's voice faded out of earshot, Hikari was the first to step out of the shower whilst wrapping her blue towel around her form. "Well, I'm glad she's gone."

"You and me both." Claudine agreed with the dark-haired female.

Karen and Mahiru stepped out as well with their respective red and green towels to cover themselves.

"If it makes you feel any better, I haven't heard any of those rumors that Kaoruko was talking about, but then again I do have a tendency to fall asleep in class a lot." Karen said, bringing up a finger to her chin in thought at the last part of her statement.

"Hanayagi-san was right about one thing, though." Mahiru spoke up, adjusting her towel as she did so.

"What's that?" Claudine had already wrapped her orange towel around her and was fidgeting with the wetness of her hair. It wasn't completely dry yet, but she still took pride in her appearance regardless.

"It really is like something out of a story book. And it's kind of ironic that our next production is _Sleeping Beauty_, which is out of a story book. Kind of."

Despite the water already being turned off, Maya remained in her stall where no one could see her smiling warmly at Mahiru's comparison.

"When you iron out all the dark aspects of the original version." Hikari noted solemnly.

"Can you imagine if we were going by the original _Sleeping Beauty_? I mean I know the school wouldn't allow it, but Junna would have a cow and possibly the rest of the animals on Mahiru's farm if that were to happen!" Karen laughed at imagining the class representative going on the warpath with the script writers and the director right directly in it.

"Thankfully, it has been toned down for a younger audience." Maya pointed out, stepping out of the stall with her grey towel around her soft, muscular form that Claudine found herself staring at but quickly caught herself before anyone had time to notice what she was doing.

"Well, I don't know about you all, but I'm gonna go lay down for a nap before dinner." Karen stretched her arms and scratched the back of her head before she began walking out of the room.

Hikari followed suit as usual, joining in right behind the brunette as the two made their way out into the hall.

"But really," Mahiru began again. "If you two _were _to be together one day, it would be like something out of a story book. Maybe just like _Sleeping Beauty _even."

Claudine could practically see the stars in Mahiru's eyes at the prospect of the possibility of a relationship between her and Maya, which was absurd in every way possible.

But despite the absurdity of the idea, it still made the blood rush to Claudine's cheeks, which Maya immediately took notice of and found herself not being able to look away.

"Anyway," Mahiru adjusted her towel again. "I can't let Karen nap just yet because we need to practice our lines, so I really need to hurry. I'll see you both at dinner."

And with that, she hurried out of the room and down the hall.

"I may have to take back what I said earlier," Claudine said as she watched her leave before turning to Maya. "It would probably be for the best if we squashed these rumors before they make everyone delusional. If they haven't already."

Maya looked to the door and hummed. "I suppose, but voicing our objections now would be rather pointless, would it not? Judging by the way Hanayagi spoke of the rumors, they have most likely been going around for quite some time. Even if we were to speak up and set these rumors straight, there is a slight possibility that there will be some that will refute anything you or I say that opposes their own viewpoint."

Claudine crossed her arms and leaned against the outside of one of the shower stalls. "So, what you're saying is that no matter what we say or do to address these rumors, everyone is still going to talk and have their own opinion of us?"

"Correct," Maya takes a few steps away from the blonde before stopping and turning back around to face her with that smirk. "We are actresses, after all. We should be accustomed to people having different opinions and not letting them hinder our success, should we not?"

Claudine's eyebrows arched down into a glare as she scoffed. "This is different. They think we're _dating_, Tendou-san. You and I. Does that not bother you in any way, shape, or form?"

The brunette turned her back to Claudine and clutched the front of her towel tightly, seeming to mull over her thoughts in silence before voicing what she felt the need to say while her back remained facing the blonde.

"I am not bothered by anything of that sort, but if they bother you, we can try addressing them first thing tomorrow morning."

If Maya's back had not been turned to her, Claudine would have most assuredly caught a glimpse of the longing gaze the brunette had directed at the nearest wall.

Claudine seemed to fall silent for a bit as she also stared in contemplation at the nearest wall before sighing.

"That won't be necessary. You're right. We should just let it be. It is what it is."

Maya nodded once, her back still to Claudine. "Very well."

Another bout of silence fell between the two. Claudine had been waiting all evening for an opportunity to arise when she would be able to get Maya's attention with no one else around so she could get her point of view on this and make sure she was alright, but she just couldn't bring herself to do so.

However, this other period of silence ceased when Maya turned her head to the side so that she was getting a peripheral view of the blonde. "It may be my imagination, but it sounds as if you are somewhat revolted at the thought of you and I being together. Would courting me really be that bad?"

This made Claudine snap her head toward the brunette in front of her, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted.

Did Maya really just ask her that? Of course she had never thought of Maya in that sense! They were rivals and nothing more than that! Hell, they were barely considered friends!

Sure, Maya was really appealing to look at, and there were a ton of girls at the academy who would jump at the chance to date the tall brunette, but that didn't mean Claudine was one of them!

But that didn't necessarily mean she thought it would be downright heresy to be with Maya. That was far from the case. Anyone would be lucky to have Maya as a significant other, but it seemed as if Maya just wasn't the type that would want a relationship, and there was plenty of evidence to back that up.

Some of that evidence included Maya politely turning down confessions that she would receive maybe two or three times a week. It was just a matter of time before the academy would run out of girls that hadn't confessed to her.

Claudine had been in close proximity around a majority of those confessions and would only roll her eyes at the polite way in which Maya shot them down one by one. Irritating but endearing at the same time. Never had she ever heard Maya be rude to any of them. They would come to her with heart eyes and leave still with heart eyes despite the rejection.

That was just the nature of Tendou Maya it seemed, and in a way, it was very charming how she conducted herself during those situations. Or any situation for that matter.

Now, Claudine was contradicting herself.

Great.

A definite result of the atmosphere that Maya created just by walking into a room or by talking or by fluttering those damn eyelashes without actually meaning to or by slightly pursing her lips and looking up to the ceiling during a particularly difficult question while in the midst of class or by...

Claudine inwardly screamed at her mind to stop there.

Judging by the heat she was feeling, her face was probably blood red, which was probably giving Maya some form of satisfaction with the way she was giving off that signature Tendou Maya smirk over her shoulder.

Claudine breathed in through her nose and then released it out of her mouth before speaking.

"First of all, no one's been "courting" since the early nineteen hundreds. Honestly, open up a history book. Secondly, I never outrightly stated dating you would be revolting. And finally, you must not be too bad because with all of the flowers that have been offered to you, you could have decorated the entire dorm with them had you accepted them all."

This piqued Maya's interest, which caused her to turn around fully to Claudine as a result. "I didn't know they depicted such trivial details like that in history books. And as for the flowers, you and I are both well aware that I couldn't decorate the entire dorm with them even if I had accepted them because of Aijou's allergies."

"Some of them were _fake_, Tendou-san." Claudine replied, arms still crossed.

"Not all of them." The taller female winked.

The blonde sighed in exasperation. "Why do I feel as if this whole conversation just inflated your ego even more than it already was initially?"

Maya's smirk seemed to grow, which only served to exasperate Claudine further.

"Never mind, Don't answer that." She gave up, running her hand through her blonde locks a few times to check if they had dried any and wishing that she had thought to bring her brush with her.

Maya quietly watched her, smirk slowly fading away from her lips and being replaced with a small, genuine smile accompanied by another longing look that seemed to be aimed at Claudine more and more here lately.

"Anyway, I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay." The blonde began as she stopped combing through her locks with her fingers and crossed her arms again.

Once Claudine looked to the towering brunette, the love-struck gaze on Maya's face disappeared as quickly as it had came and a serious one took its place.

"What do you mean?" She inquired.

"Well I mean," Claudine scratched the back of her neck and sighed at how hard this actually was to word. "You're used to being the lead in everything, you know? I can't remember a time when you didn't get the lead part in something. I just figured that maybe you might be a little upset that you didn't get the part this time. Maybe you feel like the rug had been pulled out from under you, or maybe you don't feel that way at all. I just want to make sure you're okay, I guess."

There was yet another bout of silence before Maya spoke.

"Contrary to popular belief, there have been times before when I didn't get to be the lead. Quite a few times, actually. Yes, I'll admit I felt like I had the rug pulled out from under me during some of those moments, but I didn't feel that way on some occasions. Some were just better suited for the role than I was, and I knew they were."

Maya joined Claudine in leaning back on the wall with her arms crossed as well before continuing.

"Every now and then, there will be someone that comes along and outshines you, and there really isn't anything you can do to change that. You were confident that you were at your absolute best, which you were, but then you see the person after you do a much better performance, and it will either do one of two things."

Maya brought up her thumb to emphasize the first thing. "It will either hurt you," Then her index finger to emphasize the second. "Or it will teach you."

Claudine stayed silent as the taller female continued talking, listening intently.

"If it hurts you, then that's when you realize that you could have put on a better performance than you initially thought. For example, in my earlier days when I was first breaking out as a performer, I lost a lot of lead roles because I didn't put in my best effort even when I thought I was putting in my best effort. My father, as harsh as he may have been, helped me to realize I had more potential than I thought I had at first. And as time went on and I grew to realize that potential, I found myself getting cast as the lead more and more."

The blonde gauged the passion in Maya's eyes as she spoke and watched as the fiery, purple flames made their eagerly awaited return, but strangely, they weren't as strong as they were earlier. Odd.

"But even with that newfound potential, there will still be moments when you lose the lead role. Not because your performance was inadequate but because they just had more to offer for the role. You are not affected or wounded by it in any way because you were confident with what you had initially brought to the stage. That's the most important part. That you were confident in your abilities. However, as you watch their performance and see them do the things you did not, you gain a better understanding of what type of person they are and how much confidence they have. Understanding someone else and their reason for doing what they are doing can help you become a better performer as well as a better person."

Maya paused during her monologue, waiting to see if the blonde next to her had any questions or anything else to add to it.

Claudine had continued listening despite all the thoughts that were running through her head at that particular point in time, but once the brunette had stopped speaking, she chose to say something and did so in a breathy voice.

"I've never heard anything like that before."

And she hadn't. Of course she had her own outlook on performing and everything else pertaining to that similar area, but she had never heard another person explain their own outlook so beautifully.

"Our past experiences can shape how we see things both on and off the stage, but what really matters is how we react to them. What kind of reaction we have reflects what kind of person we are and what we are feeling inside at that particular time. But to answer your question from earlier without being vague, no I am not in any way upset or hurt. You were just the better performer and the one more fit for it. Physically as well."

"What are you saying?" Claudine asked turning toward Maya, shifting to lean on her shoulder instead of her back.

Maya did the same, and the two pairs of eyes met.

And once that happened, the blonde could not contain the small gasp that escaped her lips as the fully evolved, purple inferno in Maya's irises had been restored to its former glory. The same exact sight she had seen earlier just before class had started.

"Did you not read the description in the script when you tried out for the role?" Maya teased with a charming sideways grin before she gently ran a hand through Claudine's golden locks.

"Hair of sunshine gold."

She continued to her next destination, the fingertips of the same hand she had ran through Claudine's hair skimming slightly down her cheek, which caused the blonde to shiver slightly at the goosebumps that quickly formed on her body.

And when Maya's fingertips reached their destination, they ghosted against Claudine's lips, which caused more goosebumps to arise and elicited another shiver out of her.

"Lips red as the rose."

Claudine's brain began to short circuit. She and Maya had been in close proximity to each other many times before to the point where they would invade each other's personal space, but not in this sense. Never before in this sense.

Her heart was thudding at such a fast pace that she was almost afraid it would beat plum out of her chest. Every thump her heart created pulsated through her burning hot ears and rendered her into a feverish mess. Her thought process was long gone, having been tossed out of the window by the girl in front of her and her infuriatingly charming words.

"Anyone with sight can see that you are without a shadow of a doubt an accurate description of a princess, wouldn't you agree?" Maya said as she removed her fingertips from Claudine's lips and once again bowed politely to her.

"As I said before, I look forward to being your prince. It should be something to remember, should it not?"

She flashed the blonde a genuine smile before turning on her heel and exiting the shower area.

Now that Claudine was alone, her thought process was slowly beginning to emerge from the Tendou Maya induced fog, enabling her to place a hand on her chest in an attempt to try and calm the still erratically beating organ inside.

Breathing in and out slowly seemed to suffice as the pulsating thudding in her ears seemed to subside, but the burning sensation on her ears and face remained.

She placed a hand on her forehead and bent down slightly, looking at the tiled floor and voiced the very first coherent thought that came to her mind.

_"Qu'est-ce que c'était?" _She mumbled her in her native language before readjusting her semi-wet towel and bringing the corners up to shield her blood red face. "_Merde."_


	3. And I Know It's True

Junna couldn't have been anymore grateful for that bottle of ibuprofen she had stowed away somewhere in her and Nana's shared room because if she hadn't purchased it from the store a week or two ago and broke it in this evening by swallowing a couple of them beforehand, she would definitely have a raging headache right at this very moment.

This was the very first onstage rehearsal of _Sleeping Beauty_ with the props and the like, and judging by how well the line reading had went for the last few days during class, Junna was hoping and praying the same would apply for the moment when they first stepped on the stage for rehearsal.

Boy, was she a fool for even daring to have hopes for this bunch.

The purple-haired female had insisted that they begin their onstage rehearsal without the use of the props just yet, and the director, Masai, had initially sided with her, but then Amemiya pointed out that practicing without the usage of the props would undoubtedly be a pointless endeavor seeing as how in almost every scene that involved the Three Fairies included them sewing, cleaning, and baking a cake to prepare for Princess Aurora's sixteenth birthday party and that it would be best if Karen, Hikari, and Mahiru got themselves familiar with everything in the short period of time they had to prepare for the real thing, which they learned had been moved up a few days from its original date at the last minute due to the original date conflicting with the exams they learned would be held that day instead of the day after for reasons no one had the slightest idea about.

Masai had a quick change of heart and told Junna that Amemiya did have a point, which brought the argument to a stalemate because of the revelation of the newfound information.

So here they were after learning of the schedule change at the very last possible minute.

Everyone was running ragged behind the scenes and onstage, props were being put together and decorated as quickly and as carefully as the stagehands could manage without any errors, the actresses that were not onstage practicing their lines were being pulled behind the stage for measurements so the costume designers could draw up the designs and begin making them for the dress rehearsal they would be having in a couple days time.

And it certainly didn't help that Karen kept dropping Baby Aurora while rehearsing the scene where the King and Queen give the newborn Aurora to the Three Good Fairies to hide in a cottage in the forest away from the wicked Maleficent for the next sixteen years.

The prop used for the baby was an old baby doll that Mahiru had played with at a young age while growing up on her homestead, which she had brought to the academy with her when she first started attending.

The crew had initially planned on just fashioning a blanket to make it appear as if it contained a baby, but Amemiya had insisted they use something that resembled a baby for the aesthetic. Once she learned that there was nothing they could even remotely use to craft a makeshift newborn, she had called out to everyone on set to ask if anyone perhaps had something that closely resembled a baby to which Mahiru quietly raised her hand to speak of the doll she had, and Amemiya implored her to fetch it from her room.

Junna had caught a glimpse of said doll once Mahiru had returned with it in her arms, and her first initial thought was of how it was perhaps one of the ugliest things she had ever seen, but she didn't voice that thought aloud out of respect for Mahiru and her feelings. The doll had sentimental value to the girl, and Junna respected that as well.

If Amemiya had the same thoughts Junna had upon seeing it, then her acting skills could probably give Maya and Claudine a run for their money because she was practically overjoyed at the fact that Mahiru had actually had something that could serve as a baby Princess Aurora.

The signs of the doll's wear and tear from years upon years of being played with around Mahiru's farm was evident at the way in which the head of the doll kept popping off it's socket every time Karen dropped it, which seemed to increase Mahiru's anxiety at seeing her childhood toy come apart.

And because of the fact that Karen kept dropping the doll, Masai kept yelling "Cut!", which meant they had to redo the scene between the King, Queen, and the Three Fairies all over again, and by the seventh redo, Junna was almost ready to call it quits and give up her role of the King to her understudy.

But finally Karen had managed to get through the scene without dropping the doll, and Masai and Amemiya both declared they were done with that particular scene for the evening and congratulated the five of them on a job well done.

So here was Junna, sitting in one of the foldable chairs backstage in the midst of the chaotic mess that was still very much alive with a bottle of water in hand.

She knew she probably should have been up and running around with everyone else to make sure everything was getting done, but she wasn't in the proper mood for that at the moment. The throbbing vein protruding out just to the left of her forehead was a clear indicator to anyone that the class representative was not to be disturbed right now.

Yes, she was definitely thankful for the medication she had taken beforehand. A raging headache would have put her in a more sour mood than the one she was currently in.

Everything was just fine for the time being. At least until Junna's ears heard the telltale sound of a very familiar object colliding with the ground below and caught a glimpse of the head of the grotesque looking doll rolling past where she was sitting with Hikari hot on the trails of it.

The purple-haired female felt the vein in her head begin to throb even worse before shouting. "For the love of god, just glue it back on!"

Nana, whom had been going around and assisting everyone with their individual tasks after finishing up her aforementioned scene, immediately recognized the voice and looked over to the purple-haired female to make sure she was okay.

And once she saw the irateness that was clearly written on her significant other's face, she excused herself from the task she was assisting with and made her way over to her.

Junna felt a pair of soft hands place themselves upon her shoulders and immediately relaxed at the comforting aura that came with them. Only one person had this kind of effect upon the purple-haired female, and Junna's soul practically lit up at the thought.

"Is everything okay over here, Junna?" Nana asked softly as her hands began working at the knots in her love's shoulder muscles.

Junna craned her head back to look at the taller female. "Now that you're here, everything is just fine."

That made Nana smile, which Junna fully returned as the former bent down to press a quick kiss to the latter's lips and continued on with the massage in comfortable silence. Junna would talk when she was ready. Nana learned that long ago.

Despite the chatter backstage, the two could hear Kaoruko onstage bellowing out her lines for the scene where Maleficent takes out her wrath and frustration on her minions while in her domain of The Forbidden Mountains.

_"It's incredible! Sixteen years and not a trace of her! She couldn't have vanished into thin air! Are you sure you've searched everywhere?"_

Of course, the thunder and lightning effects would most likely be added during tomorrow evening's rehearsal. Right now, everyone was busy organizing the props and getting the measurements for the costumes. Tomorrow would probably be less of a catastrophe than today was.

"Kaoruko was definitely a good choice for the role of Maleficent. I'm kind of excited to see what she will look like with her horns." Nana said, which Junna nodded at in agreement.

"She's definitely had plenty of practice by terrorizing us that's for sure." The purple-haired female replied, now fully relaxed thanks to Nana's skilled hands.

_"What about the town? The forest? The mountains?"_

Junna sighed, pushing up her glasses as she did so. "I'm just aggravated about everything being rushed. I'm sure the school board knew about the schedule change the whole time, so why are they just now letting us know about it? It's been a couple of weeks since we announced we were doing this. You think they would have at least cared to tell us."

"Yeah, I can tell you're really tense right now," Nana pointed out softly as she rubbed at the biggest knot she had came across in Junna's left shoulder. "You're right, though. They had to have known the whole time, but people make mistakes from time to time. I'm sure they had other important matters to attend to, and it just slipped their mind."

_"Cradle? Did you hear that, my pet? All these years they've been looking for a baby!"_

Junna and Nana both heard Masai encourage Kaoruko to gather all of her vigor and put it all into the most evil and wicked laugh she could muster. Something that would fit the evil Maleficent for this scene.

And with all of her might, the blue-haired devil conjured up the most insidious guffaw that had to have raised the hair on the arms of everyone that heard her.

Nana shivered. "That gave me chills."

"Me too." Junna replied as her lover continued rubbing her shoulders softly.

_"Fools! Idiots! Imbeciles!"_

It sounded as if a stampede of cattle had been set loose upon the stage at that moment as the girls playing the roles of Maleficent's underlings were sent scurrying to the backstage area after having done their parts of running away from the very vengeful witch.

"I guess you have a point. There really isn't anything we can do about any of it except try and corral everyone into working together for this thing." said Junna, taking a drink from her bottle.

"That's the spirit!" Nana patted her lover on the shoulder and bringing her arms to loop around Junna from behind. "We'll just have to make do with what they've given us to work with."

The class representative hummed at the comforting feeling of her lover's embrace from behind and closed her eyes to savor it while it lasted.

"Don't just force it on there like that, Hikari!" Junna's ears picked up the sound of Mahiru's chiding voice. "You have to put it on there carefully, or you'll break her!"

She released a sigh and leaned back further into Nana, who let out a small, quiet chuckle in return.

"Don't worry about that," Nana whispered as she placed a small kiss on the other girl's temple. "I'm sure there's some glue back here somewhere, and if that doesn't work, I'll just talk Masai or Amemiya into letting Mahiru hold it onstage instead of Karen."

_"...search for a maid of sixteen with hair of sunshine gold and lips red as the rose! Go! And do not fail me!"_

"Cut!" Nana and Junna heard Masai shout. "Excellent, Hanayagi! Just excellent!"

The two continued their embrace as if they were the only two people in the area, but of course, it always felt like that to both Junna and Nana. They had been very careful with everything so far, and not a single soul backstage was even paying the couple any attention because of the chaotic rush they were in the midst of.

Kaoruko had pulled back the curtain as she made her way offstage and stopped in her tracks when she caught sight of the couple tucked just off to the side out of everyone's way, wolf whistling as she did so, which caused Nana to quickly break the hold she had Junna in.

"Well hey there, not-lesbians!" Kaoruko smiled wickedly, passing her makeshift Maleficent scepter to one of the stagehands that passed by. "Caught you with your hand in the cookie jar, didn't I, Nana-han? Well, I mean I probably would have if I had shown up a little while later."

Nana blushed a deep shade of red at the blue-haired devil's implication and hurried away to resume the task she had been assisting the stagehands with earlier with Junna right behind her after throwing the now empty water bottle at the snickering Kaoruko and standing from her chair.

Kaoruko had simply caught the water bottle in one fluid motion as her snicker evolved into a full blown cackle, tossing the bottle into the nearest garbage bin and making her way through the backstage area to search for Futaba.

* * *

Back in one of the dressing rooms, Claudine was standing as still and as straight as she could possibly muster while the appointed costume designer for Princess Aurora silently took her measurements.

Futaba was there too, of course. She had just finished with her own measurements and opted to stay and hang out while Claudine took her turn, making sure to stay out of the way as it happened.

And as she leaned sideways against the wall just a little bit of a distance away from the blonde, the redhead watched as Claudine stood silently with her gaze pointed down to the floor below.

She had been doing that a lot recently, which was very odd and out of character for the blonde. Claudine would stare into space and wouldn't speak aloud unless prompted to do so by one of the other girls. Either that or she would just abandon conversation and group gatherings all together by making a beeline straight to her room after the day had pretty much been over with and only coming out of said room to eat dinner or practice her lines for the play with the other girls.

And with the close, almost sisterly relationship the two shared, it was only natural for Futaba to be the first to notice Claudine's uncharacteristic change in demeanor.

Despite the situation appearing odd as a whole, the strangest part in Futaba's opinion had been the way in which Claudine presented herself whenever Maya was in the room.

With the recently elusive moments of actually seeing Claudine out of her room came an even more recently elusive moment in which the blonde's normal exchange of banter with the tall brunette was practically nonexistent now.

Instead, Claudine, who almost always ignited the flames of said banter between the two, remained uncharacteristically silent just as she had with the other girls, but there was something else going on there, and Futaba had seen it clearly written on her closest friend's facial features.

Even during the series of line readings over the last few days in class and during their free time in the dorm, Futaba had caught a glimpse of the way Claudine would gaze over at Maya in an almost longing and lovestruck way, and that same said gaze would intensify whenever Maya would read off her lines as the prince.

And of course, Futaba hadn't been alone in noticing this certain occurrence. Kaoruko, ever the nosiest of their little group, had elbowed the redhead at the first openly shared look between the two during the line reading where the prince would ask Princess Aurora, who was to be known as simply Briar Rose at that point in the play, what her name was after their waltz in the forest to _Once Upon A Dream_.

But in order to avoid feeding the blue-haired devil any kind of fuel to add to the already spreading wildfire of rumors of Maya and Claudine's supposedly secret affair, Futaba quickly assured her it was just two actresses playing the parts of two lovers and nothing more than that.

She wasn't too sure if Kaoruko bought into it or not, but it seemed to at least satisfy her nosey side for the time being. Everything had already been blown out of proportion enough as it was, and Futaba wasn't going to let it get to the point where it would no longer be able to be contained. Hell, if it already wasn't at that point.

But Futaba had most assuredly watched Claudine's mannerisms up until that point, and it was very clear to her that the blonde was suffering some form of inner turmoil. And since it was only Claudine, the costume designer from Class B, and herself behind a closed door in a room sectioned off from the public, it was definitely a good time to learn about what Claudine had been thinking about.

Besides, the Class B student who was currently taking the blonde's measurements was never really one for speaking in general, which meant she most likely wouldn't mind the conversation and certainly wouldn't go around and leak any details to her fellow students afterwards about what the conversation entailed. They were all in the clear it seemed.

"Something on your mind, Kuroko?" Futaba began, leaning on her elbow against the wall while her hand cupped her neck. It was an odd position, but she was comfortable.

Claudine seemed to have heard the shorter female's words, but she made no effort to look her way. She did release a sigh, however.

_"Quand n'est-il pas?_ Honestly, when is there not, Futaba?"

"I know," Futaba rubbed at her neck. "But whatever's on your mind right now must be something huge because you've been out of it for the past few days. That's not like you, Kuroko."

"Arms up, please, Saijou-san." The student from Class B quietly spoke, moving to wrap the tape around the blonde's waist for the next measurement once she did as she was told.

"Sometimes I just don't want to be around people. You know that." Claudine said as she moved her gaze from the floor to the wall just ahead of her.

"Sometimes, yeah," Futaba reiterated. "But not as often as you've been doing here recently. Karen was kinda bummed that you missed out on the movie she picked for us all to watch the other night."

Claudine continued refusing to say anything as she felt the almost feather-like sensation of the tape being moved upwards to measure her hips.

"You know you can tell me anything, right? Whatever you say to me will stay between the two of us like it always has. I won't force you to tell me, but I think you definitely need to get whatever this is off your chest."

Futaba watched Claudine's gaze move back to the ground and caught a glimpse of the set jawline, which was a clear indicator that the blonde was thinking over what she had said, which gave her a reason to continue.

"If whatever this is affects the offstage Saijou Claudine, then it will do the same for the onstage Saijou Claudine, and everyone here knows how great of a performer you are and how much you take pride in that. You aren't the type of person to let something get in the way of that, no matter how big or small that something is. I know you, Kuroko. You would rather die than let that happen. And if it would help you to speak to someone about it, then look no further. I'm right here whenever you're ready."

Claudine seemed to mull over what she had just said, but she still was not speaking. Futaba had done her part as a friend to let her know that she could ease her troubles by listening to whatever she said, and that was all she could do. She couldn't push Claudine into talking, but she did let her know that she would be there when she decided to come forth with her troubles.

But after a solid few minutes, Claudine relented, turning her attention to the appointed seamstress next to her.

"Can you give us a few minutes, please?" She asked quietly and politely.

The girl shot her a smile. "No need, Saijou-san. I have all of the required measurements I need from you, so I need to hurry and go get started on the sketches for your costumes. I'm not due back here until tomorrow to measure Tendou-san and Hanayagi-san for their fittings, so you can even lock the door if you want. I'm sure no one will need to come in here for anything."

_"Merci."_

The class B student nodded her head once at Claudine's native expression of gratitude before moving to gather her things from the nearby table, shoving the measuring tape and some papers into her bag and shouldering it before shutting the door firmly behind her.

Futaba moved from where she was leaning on the wall and made her way over to where Claudine had chosen to take a seat in front of one of the vanities inside the room, standing behind her with her arms crossed.

From her viewpoint, Futaba could see Claudine's face in the mirror and recognized the appearance of the set jawline again, which most likely meant that the blonde was wracking her brain for a way to word what she had been feeling.

Claudine put her elbows on the table and placed her face into both of her hands, leaning over into them as she sighed. "Something about this whole thing just isn't making sense to me, Futaba."

The shorter girl continued to watch her closest friend in the mirror. "What do you mean, Kuroko?"

The blonde slid her hands from her face to brace both of her temples, slightly jostling the black headband situated on her head. "I've been doing theatre for years, and I've never been starstruck before in my life. Is that what this is? Is that what I am feeling?"

This prompted Futaba to pull up a chair from one of the nearby vanities and maneuvered it over to position it beside Claudine, sitting on it backwards and folding her arms together over the back of it.

"What makes you think that?" Futaba inquired.

Claudine shook her head slowly, crimson colored irises shifted off to the side, which from Futaba's glimpse in the mirror looked as if they were in a far away place at that point in time. The blonde's mouth shifted into a firm line.

"I just," Claudine sighed again, bringing her gaze back into reality as she peered into the mirror at herself, almost searching into it as she spoke. "I can't understand any of this. Maybe it's just a heat of the moment thing that will pass, or maybe I really am starstruck."

The blonde scoffed before continuing. "I have been in so many productions throughout my life that included so many wonderful actors and actresses that I could have been starstruck by, Futaba. It just doesn't make any sense that it would happen now if it didn't happen back then. Of all people, why does it have to be her?"

The shorter female's eyebrows rose up in shock once the realization struck her.

If Claudine was talking about who Futaba thought she was talking about, then this would definitely serve to add more fuel to the fire of rumors that were swirling around. Just the fact that both Claudine and Maya had been cast as the princess and the prince respectively had caused the rumors to circulate around more than they initially had in the first place. If this were to come out, everyone at the school would be suspicious at this point.

But since it was just the two of them inside a room with a locked door, Futaba would do what she had been doing since all of this chaos had even started, which involved keeping her mouth shut about all of it and denying anything that she knew in her heart not to be true. She wanted Claudine to trust her, after all. Futaba wouldn't spread around anything about her that wasn't true or anything that the blonde wanted to keep under wraps.

Futaba snapped out of her thought process to take another glimpse in the mirror at Claudine and saw that the normally porcelain skin tone of her face had flushed a bright red with her arms crossed and her crimson irises were off in that far away place again.

The redhead leaned closer. "Whoever this girl is must be a very big deal if you get flustered by just the thought of her."

Futaba had a strong idea of the identity of the mystery girl Claudine was speaking of. Hell, everyone and their grandmother knew there was only one girl attending this school who could always render the blonde into a flustered mess.

Claudine scoffed. "Tendou Maya. You infuriating woman."

Futaba nodded slowly as she processed this information. The revelation wasn't exactly a shock to her at all, but it was very different hear it be acknowledged out loud after it had been blatantly obvious for so long.

"Well, it's understandable," Futaba started as she rubbed at the back of her head. "A lot of girls at this school are starstruck by Tendou. But don't you think it's kind of odd for you to be starstruck by her _now_? I mean ever since we started going here, the two of you have always been the top two in everything we've ever done. You've been on stage with her more times than the rest of us. I mean surely if this was you being starstruck, then you would've been the first time you ever stepped onto the stage with her, right?"

Claudine folded her arms on the table and laid her head down in them to muffle another sigh.

In a way, Futaba was right, but their past plays together didn't involve anything even remotely related to love or a prince and a princess let alone a kiss scene. The thought of the aforementioned scene made Claudine's face burn like fire.

"Maybe it's just the heat of the moment," Claudine reasoned, more with herself than with the shorter female sitting next to her. "Where we're being rushed to get all of this together and where this particular play is a new concept we have never done before and where I'm still in shock about having the lead role. Maybe it's a defense mechanism or something. Wouldn't you think so?"

Now it was Futaba's turn to look off the side in thought. That had been a new one on her. It made sense in a way, but Claudine had a lot more experience when it came to things going on behind the scenes. Surely she had been rushed before in the past akin to the same way they were all being rushed now. And Claudine had been exposed to new concepts of genre as her young career had went on. Those two could easily be ruled out as reasons why she was feeling the way she was at that moment.

But maybe just maybe she _was _still in shock at being picked for the lead role. It was definitely a very big deal around there. However, being starstruck by Tendou Maya could not have been a defense mechanism to any of those things. It just didn't make much sense.

Futaba swallowed hard at the next few words she was about to say. "Maybe you've been starstruck by Tendou all this time and you're just now realizing it?"

Claudine's crimson irises widened to a degree as she snapped her head toward the shorter female, who seemed to shrink back at the look on her face.

Futaba gulped, picking at the fabric of her uniform as a nervous tick. "I-I could be wrong, though."

The blonde looked back into the mirror at her own reflection and sighed for the umpteenth time that evening.

"_Ça ne peut pas être ça. _It couldn't be that, Futaba. It just couldn't."

"But why not?" Futaba seemed to be getting braver by the second. "Why could that not be it, Kuroko?"

"Because it just couldn't!" Claudine raised her voice, not into a full blown shout but not in her normal tone at the same time. "Tendou Maya and I may have the same aspirations, but we're just two completely different people! She's beautiful, intelligent, talented, and sometimes she acts just like a small, excited child about the tiniest little things, and it just draws me in even more even though I try so hard to push all of it away! She's right up here, and I'm all the way down here!"

She held her hand horizontally up as high as she could possibly reach to represent Maya's level of everything and then all the way down to her chest to represent her own level.

"Of course I'd be starstruck by Tendou Maya! How could anyone not be? She's everything anyone could want and more! But she's so high up, and I'm so far down! Someone like her doesn't look at someone who is on a level below her! And I don't know why I have these feelings for her! I shouldn't have these at all, Futaba! I shouldn't, but I do!"

Tears were streaming down Claudine's face now, and Futaba immediately stood up to lean over her into a hug and console her.

There it was. The blonde's entire breakdown went far beyond the mere concept of being starstruck by the top star, and it completely shot down the idea of any sort of defense mechanism whatsoever.

Everything. The circulating rumors of a secret love affair between the two top students of the entire school, which had all started because of the close bond they shared with each other. Their theatrical production of _Sleeping Beauty _that would include the two of them acting out the romance between the princess and the prince. The line reading, which included the two of them sharing the same love-struck glances to each other when they had read over their lines involving each other.

It all served to penetrate the walls of defense that were hiding what Claudine had been feeling for the top star, and with the amount of crying the blonde was doing at that moment, these feelings had been brewing for a long time. Without a shadow of a doubt.

After what seemed like forever, Claudine was finally able to calm down. Her eyes were red and swollen from the tears she had shed, which had created wet stains all the way down her cheeks and stopping at her chin.

Futaba was silent the whole time, but as soon as she felt Claudine begin to stir and break away from the consoling hug she had given, the smaller female spoke quietly.

"How long have you had these feelings, Kuroko?"

The blonde sniffled as she reached for a tissue from the small box on the table. "Since I can remember, Futaba."

"If that's the case, then it's not because you are starstruck." Futaba said as she situated herself back into her seat.

Claudine dabbed at the stains on her cheeks and around her eyes as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Then what else could it be?"

The smaller female grinned sideways at the blonde's reflection in the mirror before speaking. "You're in love."

The porcelain-toned hand paused while in the midst of correcting the slightly smudged makeup on her face that occurred during her small breakdown, turning to match Futaba's gaze in the mirror. "In love with that infuriating woman? Oh please. Don't you know that if any of the girls in this school were to find that out, one half of them would be heartbroken, and the other half would make up more rumors to spread around."

"You didn't deny it." Futaba crossed her arms over the back of the chair and leaned forward.

Claudine scoffed. "I don't even know what this is, Futaba. If I'm not starstruck, then there's a number of other logical explanations as to what this could be."

"I've seen the way you look at her, Kuro. And when someone has that specific type of doe-eyed look on their face, all sense of logic has already been tossed out the window. That's what love does, after all. There's no logical explanation for it. It just happens." The shorter female explained.

Claudine tossed the smudged tissue into the trash bin under the table and moved to get another one. "That answers that, then."

Futaba cocked an eyebrow. "Answers what?"

"How you've been able to tolerate Hanayagi for so long." The blonde replied, grinning in the mirror at the shorter female.

Futaba chuckled. "You get used to it. When you've known someone since childhood, you learn to adapt to their behavior. She tests my patience sometimes, but I love her and wouldn't have her any other way."

"I don't think I've ever heard you outright say that about her in front of anyone before. That's very sweet of you, Futaba." Claudine said with a genuine smile.

Futaba scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Well since we're laying everything out on the table here, I figured I might as well contribute. But seriously, Kuro, you have it bad for Tendou. Anyone in their right mind can see that."

Blood rushed to the blonde's face at the shorter female's choice of wording though it didn't hinder her in her quest to wipe off the smudged makeup on her face. "Is it that obvious?"

Futaba clicked her tongue. "So obvious that everyone in our dorm has placed their bets on when you two will eventually confess. Mahiru lost out two months back, and I lost out last month, so the others are still in the running."

Just before Claudine could throw away her second, used tissue, her eyes widened and her head swiftly turned to look at the other girl in the room. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack," She sighed regretfully. "I didn't want to participate, but you know how convincing Kaoruko can be at times."

"And what pray tell is on the line in this horrid bet?"

"Winner gets to pick the movie for movie night for a whole month."

Claudine shook her head, turning back to the mirror and reaching for the tube of mascara that was sitting on the table. "You are all terrible."

Futaba only shrugged her shoulders, She watched as Claudine set to work in correcting her face, delicately applying the chosen cosmetic with a careful hand.

"Your eyelashes are so long, Kuro." Futaba pointed out.

Once the blonde was satisfied with her work on her right eye, she switched to the left, lips involuntarily raising upward into a small grin as she said her next few words.

"Tendou-san pointed that out the other day, too."

Futaba rolled her eyes playfully, a grin of her own made its way onto her face. "Okay, Meg. We're performing _Sleeping Beauty_, not _Hercules_. We all know you won't say you're in love."

"What do you want me to say, Futaba?" Claudine snipped, capping the mascara back together and placing it back on the table. "That I _am _in love? Like I said before, there are other logical explanations as to what this could be."

"Name one." Futaba challenged, crossing her arms.

Claudine was checking over the remainder of her face in the mirror to make sure she didn't need to touch up anything else, but paused when she heard what the shorter female had said.

Not a single thing came to her mind as she sat there and thought over a logical explanation as to why she was feeling this particular way for Maya. If she wasn't starstruck or in love, then what actually was this?

"We have a strong friendship," The blonde reasoned. "We keep each other on track, and we talk about things that we don't talk about with anyone else. I have never had that with anyone really, Futaba. I have you, but the bond Tendou Maya and I share is completely different. I just don't really know how to explain it. I could just be overwhelmed by her friendship."

Futaba chuckled, standing up from her chair and setting it back in its original place before moving back over to the blonde and clasping her hands behind her head. "That's kinda gay, Kuro."

Claudine scoffed, standing up from her own chair as well. "Hanayagi's demeanor has certainly rubbed off on you, hasn't it?"

"I wouldn't exactly say that," The redhead said. "But they do say you develop certain traits of your partner as time goes on."

The blonde waved off the remark with her hand. "Excuses, excuses. Well, we better hurry back. Everyone is probably looking for us."

"You're probably right," Futaba sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Do you feel better? You know, since you got all of that off your chest?"

Claudine nodded. _"Oui, merci._ I feel a lot better than I did, so thank you for being here for me, Futaba. It means a lot to me. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

Futaba's face turned a slight shade of red as a sheepish grin appeared on her mouth. "Come on, Kuro. You don't have to get all sentimental on me. Just felt like you needed it, you know? No one deserves to feel like crap all of the time."

"I appreciate you looking out for me." Claudine smiled as she moved passed the smaller female, but stopped when she felt an arm softly grab onto her own.

"Just think about what I said, okay?" Futaba spoke, intently focusing on Claudine's eyes with her own. "If you ever need to talk again, let me know. I hope you get some answers soon, Kuroko."

Claudine broke eye contact and looked off into the corner. _"Moi aussi, _Futaba. So do I."

* * *

_"And what are you three dears up to?"_

Maya sat in one of the seats of the auditorium about three rows from the stage, watching the ongoing scene intently, which consisted of the Three Fairies attempting to hide their plans for a surprise for Briar Rose on her sixteenth birthday from Briar Rose herself.

Karen, Mahiru, and Hikari were far from mediocre actresses. Maya quite enjoyed watching them perform, but the tall brunette was paying more attention to the blonde female on stage alongside them.

Everything about Saijou Claudine was a wonder. Her stage presence never failed to captivate Maya in ways the tall brunette had never even thought possible. The way she carried herself was very admirable, very polite and caring to the people around her.

But she could get riled up, too, which never ceased to amuse Maya. The tall brunette found herself making small offhanded comments just to get that kind of reaction from Claudine, and then sometimes she didn't have to say anything, which still set the blonde off into a ranting tirade. And when Maya's smirk would grow afterward, Claudine would sometimes huff in annoyance and stomp away to her room or she would roll her eyes and throw her hands up out of frustration.

Maya couldn't help but find it cute.

Off to the side of the stage, Kaoruko had walked out from behind the curtain and seemed to be speaking to someone, which Maya had caught a glimpse of.

Futaba poked her head out from the curtain and said something back to the blue-haired female, which caused the latter to stomp the ground and cross her arms with a pout.

Probably a lover's quarrel. That was the first thought that came to the top star's mind as she turned her attention back to the actresses on the stage.

_"We want you to pick some berries!"_

_"That's it! Berries!_

_"Lots of berries!"_

Maya was too busy watching the trio of Karen, Mahiru, and Hikari attempt to drag and push Claudine across the stage, putting a basket in her hand as they did so to notice that Futaba had pointed in her direction and told Kaoruko to go sit with her while she finished tying up some loose ends backstage.

If the tall brunette had continued paying attention to the duo at the far end of the stage, she would've noticed that Futaba had ducked back behind the curtain out of sight before Kaoruko could even open her mouth to argue.

Then Maya felt a presence sit down in the seat next to her, abruptly taking her eyes off the stage to see that it was just Kaoruko, who had crossed one leg over the other and was waving herself with her fan.

"They threw you out again, didn't they?" Maya felt herself grin as she eyed the blue-haired female out of her peripheral vision.

Kaoruko huffed in annoyance. "Like I'm the only person that's ever purposefully glued her hands together. I was just doing what Nana told me to do, which was super glue the head back onto the body of that creepy ass doll. If Futaba-han hadn't hatefully told me to watch what I was doing, then I wouldn't have been a smartass girlfriend and squirted a healthy amount into both of my hands and clapped them together just to piss her off even more."

Maya shook her head despite the small smile on her face.

It had came to be a common occurrence for Kaoruko to be booted out of the backstage area for causing distractions regardless of whether they were accidental or premeditated in nature, which happened at least two or three times within every production they had put on so far.

"I think what pissed her off even more is that the time she could've spent helping class B, she had to spend helping me get my hands unstuck, but still. Take a chill pill or something, you know?" Kaoruko continued on, blue strands of hair moving back in time with every wave of her fan.

"It is normal for someone to express negative emotions while they are being rushed. Everthing and everyone should be calm within a day or two, so I would not worry too much about it. I am sure Isurugi did not mean to get angry with you." Maya replies.

Kaoruko hummed. "Maybe you're right. It's hot as hell back there in the back, and everyone is sweating like slobbering pigs, but they're all too busy hauling ass to get everything done, so no one has even bothered to turn on the air conditioning."

Maya couldn't help but grin once more. Kaoruko definitely had a unique way of wording different situations, and while everyone thought nothing of it, the top star couldn't help but find them slightly amusing.

"But enough about that," The blue-haired female said as she quickly noted the way Maya was intently focused on the stage or rather a certain blonde haired female in particular and grinned sideways. "You seem to be enjoying the view."

"Hm?" Maya hummed, glancing over at Kaoruko before turning her attention back to the stage where Claudine was standing around with the basket prop in hand, chatting away to the trio on stage as Masai and Amemiya were discussing something that most likely pertained to the lighting or something else rather than the acting on stage since the top star saw no flaw in any of it whatsoever. "You could say that."

Kaoruko's grin grew wider as she joined Maya in watching the ongoing situation on the stage. "Quite the woman, isn't she?"

"Beyond compare." Maya replied without even having to ask who the blue-haired female was referring to.

Kaoruko looked back over to the tall brunette and couldn't help but roll her eyes, lips still curved into a grin, at the pure adoration laced into what seemed like every detail of Maya's facial features.

The scene quickly resumed with the Three Fairies rushing Briar Rose out the door of the cottage to pick berries while they set up for her surprise birthday party.

_"Now, don't hurry back, dear!"_

_"And don't go too far!"_

_"And don't speak to strangers!"_

Kaoruko didn't even need to attempt to fish around for any verbal evidence from the top star that would indicate any kind of confirmation that she held strong feelings for the blonde. Why would she waste her energy in doing that when it was written in her face? A person wouldn't look at another person in the way Maya looked at Claudine unless they were in love with that person. It was just pure logic to Kaoruko.

And knowing Maya and her noble nature, the top star wouldn't deny it even if the blue-haired female had just came right out with it and asked her. The reason why Maya never spoke about her affection for the blonde-haired female is because no one had ever flat out asked her if she held strong feelings for her. Don't ask, don't tell.

Sure, there were rumors circulating about a secret love affair between the two, but they were false as far as Kaoruko knew, but no one in the school had the guts to ask Maya if they were true. Most likely to save them from the heartbreak since most of them practically had crushes on her because they all figured the rumors were true. The point is no one ever out rightly confronted her with them. Again, don't ask, don't tell.

That was Maya's nature.

While Futaba and Claudine had a close friendship, Kaoruko considered her friendship with Maya a close one as well. Sure, they didn't hang out as often as Futaba and Claudine did, but they didn't really need to. That was just the dynamic of the friendship between the blue-haired female and the tall brunette. Kaoruko was nosey, but she had enough respect for Maya to not delve deep into her personal business unless she felt the need to do so.

Like right now.

Claudine was definitely as stubborn and oblivious as they come, and if Maya wanted these feelings to get through to the blonde, then she would have to press on until Claudine got the picture, which would probably not be too hard considering the present situation.

The princess and the prince were scripted to have at least two dance sequences in the play they were putting on, and since they are lovers, both dances would be an intimate waltz, which meant that both Maya and Claudine would definitely find time in their busy schedules to practice them, giving Maya an opportunity to sweep Claudine off her feet if she so desired.

With this in mind, Kaoruko spoke. "All she needs is a push, you know."

This pulled Maya's attention away from the stage. "What do you mean?"

"Kuro-han is just as head over heels for you as you are for her," Kaoruko explained nonchalantly. "She just needs a little help to see it for herself. Just a little push. And by a little push, I mean turn on that Tendou charm that I hear all these girls talk about all the time. Put on some of that sweet smelling perfume you have, but not so much of it that it'll knock her down right when you walk in the door. Just a spritz or two should be enough. Do those things, and you'll have her swept off her feet in no time."

The blue-haired female slyly winked at the top star as she finished her explanation.

Maya took a moment to process this information before replying. "You are sure?"

"Positive," Kaoruko nodded her head. "I would also tell you to flutter those eyelashes and show off some cleavage, but you won't need to go _that _far. A small push doesn't need that much of an approach. Besides, I know you aren't that type of girl. If you were, then there would be a fuck ton of girls in this school in the hospital for suffering strokes."

Before Maya could open her mouth for another reply, Amemiya turned to call for her.

"Tendou! Can you come here, please?"

The top star turned to the blue-haired female sitting next to her, who only threw another wink in her direction, to which Maya returned with a small, grateful smile.

"Remember what I said!" Kaoruko shouted as Maya began to make her way down the aisle to the front of the stage where both Amemiya and Masai waited patiently for her.

Once the brunette was out of earshot, Kaoruko placed her feet on the back of the seat in front of her, crossing one over the other and released a small sigh as she continued waving her fan.

"Young love at its finest."


	4. That Visions Are Seldom All They Seem

**A/N: ****It might just be my insecurities getting the best of me, but I feel as if I didn't do quite well with Amemiya and Masai from class B, so they may appear OOC here. I apologize for that.**

**\- 54**

* * *

Maya came to a stop just in front of the class B pair of Amemiya and Masai. Claudine was there, too, seated on the edge of the stage, legs hanging down with the basket prop from the earlier scene beside her.

Their eyes met for a moment, but then the blonde turned her head away, breaking the eye contact and scraping the tip of her shoe against the floor of the auditorium.

Maya's lilac colored irises did not stray, however, which rewarded her with the sight of a slightly red faced Claudine and couldn't help but smile at it.

"For this next scene, Saijou, Briar Rose is walking through the forest, which is where the song, _I Wonder_, will come in. I assume you've been provided the lyrics already?" Amemiya explained, looking hopefully towards the blonde.

_"Oui." _Claudine's reply was curt but not impolite.

Amemiya clapped her hands together at the news. "Excellent! We won't go over the song during the scene for this evening's practice since the lyrics were given to you today, but you should expect it to happen during tomorrow's practice if that's not too early?"

Claudine shook her head. "It's not any trouble at all. I can have them memorized before the night is over with. I understand we're on a time constraint, after all."

"Of course we will have someone go over the song with you beforehand so that you can learn the tempo, which shouldn't be an obstacle for you since you're a fast learner and all. I just hate that we don't have a lot of time to pace ourselves with the rehearsal and everything else going on, but we have to make it work." Amemiya stated with a sigh after her last sentence.

"That's why we're having to have rehearsal during class and in the evening after classes are over," Masai added. "With the limited time we have, we'll have to run ourselves ragged to get everything done. Amemiya and I have been contemplating just cancelling the play altogether to be honest. Since exams are coming up, no one will really have any free time to study for them. Cancelling would be the logical thing to do, but then we won't be able to perform this play at all since summer break starts a few days after the exams are given. Everyone will want to go home and be with their families. It's a lose-lose situation no matter what we choose to do."

At the downcast looks of the pair out of class B, Maya and Claudine looked to each other in that moment.

They didn't need words to convey what the other was thinking. They were both well-seasoned when it came to acting, singing, and everything else in between. The others out of class A were as well, but they didn't have the experience like the two females in the top rankings had. If anyone needed help, then they would both see to it, but it was likely that no one would need them. The play as a whole would be just fine.

Everyone that would be on the stage would do their part. Karen, Hikari, and Mahiru would undoubtedly help each other improve if they needed to do so, so there were really no worries there. The same applied for Junna and Nana as well as Kaoruko and Futaba. The performance would go through without a hitch.

As for class B and everything being done behind the scenes, everyone in class A was doing their best to help out and give assistance whenever needed. When they weren't on the stage practicing, they were backstage helping with the creation of the props and the backdrops for the stage. Most of them had already been finished.

All that pretty much needed to be done was the costumes, which would all most likely be done within a day or two. Measurements would have to be taken, the designs would have to be drawn up, and then they would have to be brought to life. All of that could not be done in one day, but it would be okay. They would be made in time.

Maya flashed one of the grins that Claudine normally hated, but this time the blonde matched it with one of her own, both females nodding once at each other in understanding.

"With all due respect, you are not giving us enough credit," Maya began, grin still etched on her face. "Regardless of the time constraint and the upcoming exams, the show must go on, should it not? We have come so far already, and I think it would be a shame to let all of that effort go to waste, wouldn't you think so, Saijou-san?"

_"Bien sûr," _Claudine added in her native tongue. "It would be pointless to let everyone's hard work go to waste. All the lines have already been memorized, costumes are already under construction, a majority of the props have been already created, and the paint on a couple of the already finished backdrops hasn't even dried yet. We cannot afford to back out now. Not when we're already so far in."

"We were born for this, were we not? In this line of work, there will be hard times whether it be time constraints because of things not in our control, forgetting your lines and having to improvise, or other things that make these situations difficult for us. Like you said before, Amemiya-san, we have to make it work. Cancelling this production at this rate would be absurd. In order for everything to go accordingly, both of you will have to trust everyone to do what they are expected to do. We are all aware that failure is not an option at this point, and you both should be aware of that as well." Maya says.

"You printed off scripts for everyone involved in this production," Claudine stood from where she was seated in the stage, feet making contact with the floor in front of it. "That alone had to take a lot of time and effort, not to mention all of those poor little trees that had to be cut down in order to make this paper. It wouldn't be right to let all of that time and effort put into making these scripts go to waste, and it certainly wouldn't be right to waste our trees. That's a crime against humanity in itself."

Maya fought off the urge to turn to the blonde and raise an eyebrow at her last statement. Instead, she continued on.

"As for the exams, there's no need to worry. Putting on a show takes team effort, so we shall carry over that team effort into studying. It will take time and patience, but I'm sure we will make it work. We will have to, after all. Everything will be fine."

"You can count on us," Claudine said as she side-eyed the top star for a split second before looking back to Amemiya and Masai. "We'll all do our part if we can count on you to do yours as well."

The class B pair looked to each other with uncertainty in their eyes, but as time slowly passed, the two smiled and nodded their heads once in each other's direction.

"You're both right," Masai was the first to speak. "This whole thing is about team effort and trust, and it seems we forgot that in the midst of everything going on. Both class A and class B need to rely on each other for this, and we're sorry for doubting you and ourselves."

"Like Tendou said, the show must go on," Amemiya said next before resuming back into setting the scene with both stars of the show with renewed vigor. "Like I was saying earlier, Saijou, you're walking through the forest with the birds, squirrels, and other woodland creatures while singing. We'll add the sound effects of all the animals later on in the next rehearsal. While you are singing, the prince will overhear you and set off in a search to find the source of the lovely voice."

Amemiya turned to the tall brunette. "That's where you will be introduced, Tendou. Saijou will make her way off stage at that point in time and you'll appear and say your lines and exit the stage to search for the voice. Then she will come back onto the stage and sing the song and go with the rest of the scene all the way up until the other song _Once Upon A Dream_, which is where you will come back onto the stage midway through it. More lines between the two of you. Blah, blah, blah. You both know the drill."

"This is where the you, Tendou, the prince, will sing the chorus of the song back to her, which will introduce the waltz in the forest. Since you've been given the lyrics to the earlier song, Saijou, I can also assume you and Tendou have been provided with lyrics to this song as well?"

_"Oui." _Claudine repeated.

"Yes." Maya confirmed.

"Good deal," Amemiya seemed ecstatic to hear the good news. "We're not going to go through the waltz this evening either mainly because we don't have the background music ready yet. As many times as you've done the waltz together during class, you're most likely already familiar with each other and the movements, but it still wouldn't hurt to touch up on the basics, wouldn't you think so?"

Maya and Claudine turned to look at each other again.

Rarely had they ever paired with anyone else but each other when it came to dancing with a partner during class. There was simply no one else that could keep up with the two of them. Maya paired herself with Claudine because she felt no one else could match her but the blonde, and the same applied to Claudine pairing herself with Maya. They could, without a shadow of a doubt, produce a beautiful waltz while on the stage together without any means of practice whatsoever. But being the perfectionists they both were, of course they would eventually find time to practice with each other. That's just how it was.

"There's always room for improvement," Maya spoke. "If Saijou can keep up with me that is."

Claudine glared venomously at the smug grin on the top star's face. _"Mechante va! _I think I've proven many times that I can keep up with you, Tendou Maya, so wipe that pompous grin off your face before I wipe it off for you!"

"Nothing would give me more satisfaction than seeing you try such a thing." Maya challenged, grin growing wider at the recognition of the blonde's flushed cheeks.

Meanwhile, Futaba had joined her blue-haired companion in the auditorium, sitting in the same seat Maya had previously occupied. Both females were looking upon the scene like it was a normal, everyday thing, which it was.

Kaoruko yawned as she leaned her head on the shorter female's shoulder. "The sexual tension is so thick, you could cut it with a knife."

"There's definitely something there that's for sure," Futaba replied. "But then again, it's always been like this, hasn't it?"

She immediately thought back to her private conversation with Claudine earlier.

The blonde herself even confirmed that she'd definitely had feelings for the top star, she just didn't have the slightest clue as to what kind of feelings they were. Futaba had already had an inkling as to what the feelings were, but she knew Claudine would have to figure it out on her own. They were _her _feelings, after all. The redhead would be there for support while Claudine went through this process, and she had made that clear, which seemed to help Claudine a little.

But if Futaba were to be completely honest, Maya would have to be the one to make the first move or at least meet the blonde halfway. If Claudine was in denial now, then she most likely would remain that way unless the other party decides to speak up.

Maya and Claudine may have danced every type of dance known to mankind, but this type of dance that the two would be performing here in the possible near future would probably prove to be the most emotional one they have ever done in their lives.

There wasn't a single doubt in Futaba's mind about that. Even her gut had a feeling about the situation, and most of the time, one's gut feeling is almost always right.

"Are you kidding?" Kaoruko asked as she rubbed at one of her eyes. "It's been like this since the beginning of time. Just kiss or fuck or something already, you know? Too much of that tension is unhealthy."

Futaba's face contorted into disgust. "I wouldn't word it like that, but okay."

"You're such a prude." The blue-haired female whined.

"Yeah whatever," The redhead replied with a roll of her eyes. "Don't think I've forgotten about that little stunt you pulled earlier."

"If you weren't so pissy to me about everything today, then I wouldn't have done it in the first place," Kaoruko removed her head from the shorter female's shoulder, looking into her face so she could argue. "You know how I am, Futaba-han. You signed up for this when we were kids."

Futaba had a rebuttal on the tip of her tongue, but she forced herself to not say it. Instead, she sighed and rubbed at her forehead as a means to calm down before their argument could reach a crescendo to where everyone in the auditorium would hear them.

"You're right," She relented, hanging her head. "I let the stress of everything get to me, and I took it out on you. That was wrong of me to do that, so I'm sorry."

Kaoruko took advantage of the silence afterward to calm herself down. Once she finally reached that point, she slowly reached over to grasp her companion's hand.

"Look," She swallowed hard before continuing. "I know I can be a brat most of the time, and I know I probably stress you out half of the time whenever we're together, but I do love you. You put up with a lot of the shit I do, and I'm thankful for that more than anything, you know? You don't have to, but you do. I love you, Futaba-han."

Futaba felt her face heat up and released a nervous chuckle. "Well, I mean, I signed up for this when we were kids, right? I've been here since then, and I still am now. And I don't plan on leaving anytime soon."

Kaoruko playfully swatted at her shoulder. "You better not."

That's when they looked at each other in that moment. Futaba with a small grin, and Kaoruko with an equally sized one that showed a glimpse of her teeth.

Sure, most people considered their relationship dynamic odd, but they didn't really know the depth of how far it went. They had been together since kids, and then as soon as the two entered high school, the pair saw each other in a different light. Kaoruko had initially been the one with more trepidation about the whole thing because she was afraid it would mess up the strong friendship they had built up together over the years, but Futaba had assured her that it would still remain that way if they didn't give up on each other, and that was enough to make the blue-haired girl give in to her emotions.

Slowly, their faces inched toward each other and their lips met.

It wasn't a chaste kiss, but it wasn't a long one either. However, it was long enough for Karen to come out from behind the stage curtain and do a double take at the pair, squinting her eyes to see if they were doing what she thought they were doing.

Once her suspicions proved to be correct, she pointed an accusing finger to the seated lovers.

"PDA!" The brunette shouted into the auditorium, her voice carrying an echo and causing everyone to stop what they were doing to see what or who she was pointing at.

Kaoruko and Futaba both broke away from each other in a hurry. The redhead ran a hand through her hair to cover up her embarrassment, while the resident blue-haired loudmouth of Seisho Music Academy stood from where she was seated to shout back at the brunette.

"Bite my ass, Aijou! I don't say a word to you when I see you doing the same thing with Tsuyuzaki or Kagura, do I? Mind your own business!"

Karen released a guffaw that echoed throughout the auditorium before a hand (most likely belonging to Mahiru) shot out from the curtain and muffled the brunette's laugh before pulling her back behind said curtain.

Kaoruko scoffed as she was pulled back into her seat by her redheaded companion, whipping her fan out once more to wave off the heat her cheeks were emitting.

Amemiya was not amused to say the least. Standing at her spot in front of the stage, she crossed her arms and cleared her throat, eyes arched downward in a glare at the pair in the seats.

"May we continue?"

When neither Futaba nor Kaoruko offered to voice any objection, the class B student turned her attention back to the three other girls around her.

"If you two are ready, then we can get started for this scene. We'll just do a quick run through of it since there will be no singing or dancing just yet, so it'll be just the lines for today. You two may take the stage when you're ready."

Claudine's crimson colored irises flicked their way over to where Maya was standing. The blonde expected the top star to make the first move toward the small flight of stairs that lead to the top of the stage, but instead she watched as Maya held her arm out in front of her.

"Lady's first, no?" The brunette said, gesturing for Claudine to lead the way.

The blonde recoiled slightly at the small act of politeness in surprise before smoothly recovering with an annoyed huff as she stepped forward, stopping only to throw a glare at the taller female's smug grin.

"Save the chivalry for the stage," She said. "Just because you're playing the part of the prince doesn't mean you have to literally _be _one."

Maya was not deterred in the slightest. In fact, she resumed back into her erect posture and walked closer to the blonde, bringing their faces close to each other in what probably looked intimate from an outsider's point of view.

She tilted her head. "The actress playing the role of the princess should be treated like a princess herself, should she not? You a_re _the star of the show that everyone will be coming to see, after all. It's only fair that our princess should be the first one onto the stage."

Claudine's facial features softened at the soft and quiet way in which Maya had spoken to her. That signature smug grin had long since disappeared, which gave Claudine the indication that the taller brunette was not jesting with her in any way, shape, or form. No, she was experiencing the serious version of Tendou Maya.

The blonde had witnessed this side of Maya numerous times throughout the duration of her time here at Seisho, and because of that, it only served to sharpen her awareness of the top star even further, which Claudine welcomed happily with open arms since it would be useful in aiding her if she wanted to continue keeping up with the tall brunette until she eventually surpassed her one day.

But in this moment, Claudine's sharp awareness quickly detected something different about the way Maya was currently presenting herself than how she normally presented herself when she was being serious.

The passionate fire had returned to Maya's eyes, but it still didn't reach the heights of the full on inferno Claudine had seen a few days back when they had first learned of their assigned roles. It was as calm as the one she had seen in Maya's eyes when she had confronted her later that same day during their evening shower.

Claudine found herself wanting to see that inferno again. To see those smoldering flames climb to the highest pinnacle they could reach just as she had seen before or perhaps maybe even higher.

There had to have been a way to stoke that burning fire. A way that would serve to excite Maya's passion even further and set those eyes ablaze. Claudine along with everyone who was well acquainted with the tall brunette knew her passion was for the stage and the stage alone. Anyone or anything that didn't contribute to assisting her in honing her skills for the stage was just a trivial background detail to her.

But then Claudine remembered the vast difference between the look in her eyes that day when they casting list had been released and then later that same day after they had taken their evening showers. Two events that did not occur on any kind of stage whatsoever, but the passion was still there. However, the play they would be doing was a dominant part of their conversation during those two moments, so of course it gave reason to why Maya's eyes had that look in them. Maya's yearning for the stage was a very powerful thing, and it would make sense for that feeling to carry over into the moments when she wasn't on the stage or practicing her skills for it.

The point was that there _was _a difference in those gazes, which was a clear indicator that there _was_ a sure fire way to stoke those lilac embers. She just didn't have any idea as to what that way was quite yet.

Her competitive nature and her drive to stay in tune with the tall brunette fueled her determination to find out. She liked to think she knew everything there was to know about the enigma that was Tendou Maya, but every time Claudine turned around, there was a new mystery about her aura. It was confusing.

It was downright _infuriating._

But it fueled Claudine's drive and determination to keep up with her. There was almost always something new to learn about Maya, and Claudine would always jump at the chance whenever the opportunity arose. Why, it would be downright heresy to proclaim herself as the tall brunette's rival if she knew nothing about her. That's just not how it worked. If she didn't keep continuous tabs on Tendou Maya, then there would be no ground for Claudine to base her own training regimens around, which would only prove to be detrimental to her career as a stage girl. Begrudgingly, she had to admit Maya was the best student here in every aspect, so it was only natural for her to keep up with the brunette in every way possible if she wanted to surpass her.

All that hard work had definitely paid off. She was the star of the show this time around, but she couldn't let that get to her head. This was one time. The first time she had ever surpassed Maya in any way, shape, or form. If she let her accomplishment go to her head, then she would definitely lose focus, which would most likely hinder her chances of ever surpassing the taller female again. Maya was just that good.

Claudine may have won this battle, but the war was far from over, and both sides were fighting fire with fire. A deadly combination that everyone knew only lead to creating more fire, but that was the element of the two dominating personalities. Maya did everything in her power to keep Claudine on her toes, and with the new goal of finding a way to awaken the underlying passion and intensity Maya was harboring in those eyes, the blonde was more than willing to return the favor and give the brunette a taste of her own medicine.

With that in mind, the initial softness Claudine's eyes held immediately faded and was quickly replaced with a determination made of solid steel.

"That's very considerate of you, but like I said before, save it for the stage," The blonde retorted. "I am going to show you, everyone here, and everyone that will be in attendance for this show that beating you for the lead role was no fluke, so be ready, Tendou Maya."

Claudine had all but jabbed her index finger into Maya's shoulder to emphasize the last three words of her statement, which caused the return of the taller girl's trademark smirk.

"I was merely trying to be kind," She says. "Besides, I don't recall ever saying it was a fluke at all, Saijou. In fact, it is the very opposite. Have you not been listening to what I have been telling you since the beginning?"

"Even so," Claudine replies as the two continue their stare down. "I still have a lot to prove, and I won't stop at nothing to do so. You better get used to losing because this victory I have over you is only the beginning. The first of many. It's the dawn of a new age. If I were you, I would brace myself, Tendou Maya, because I don't plan on losing again for a long time."

Maya took a moment to process the information Claudine had relayed to her before crossing her arms and leaning slightly downward, their faces just mere inches away from each other once again.

"Consider me braced for impact, then."

Claudine hurriedly turned away from the taller female with a _hmph_ and began making her way up toward the stage with a grinning Maya trailing right behind her.

Kaoruko's keen eyesight recognized the slightest hue of a blush on the blonde's cheeks as the aforementioned duo moved to take their places on the stage and sighed dramatically from where she was still seated. "Like I said earlier, young love at its finest."

"Definitely confusing, but to quote Shakespeare from A Midsummer Night's Dream, the course of true love never did run smooth." Junna, who along with Nana had quietly made their way out from behind the curtain while all eyes were on Claudine and Maya during their conversation, said as she crossed her arms in her seat.

Futaba released a small sigh as she remembered her conversation with Claudine earlier. "No kidding."

"All we can do is trust that everything will work itself out," Nana spoke up from the seat beside Junna. "If it's meant to be, then it will be. You two have done all you can, so we can at least hope that gives them a push in the right direction."

Kaoruko chuckled, not a bit surprised that Nana already knew. "And here I thought I was skilled enough to be as quiet as a mouse when Tendou-han and I were speaking. I credit you and your snooping skills, Nana-han."

Futaba, on the other hand, was definitely surprised. "Kuro and I were alone in a locked room. How-?"

"I just so happened to be in the right place at the right time," Nana spoke before Futaba could even finish her question, craning her head around to flash a small grin at the redhead. "Doors may have locks, but some lack the ability to be soundproof."

"You put your ear to the door, didn't you?" Futaba pinched the bridge of her nose.

Nana shrugged her shoulders. "I can neither confirm nor deny that, but I can assure you that the things I _did_ hear will be carried with me to the grave. You and Kuro have nothing to worry about."

"So, you talked to Kuro-han?" Kaoruko asked disbelievingly before striking Futaba's shoulder with the fan that she had finally closed a little while ago. "You could've at least said something!"

"Ow!" Futaba acknowledged the small amount of pain she had felt at the moment of the blow. "It was a private conversation, and Kuro made me swear that I wouldn't say anything! And don't be pointing a finger at me when you had a private conversation of your own with Tendou!"

"Don't ask, don't tell." Kaoruko said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The conversation between the four girls abruptly died down after that, and they found their attention being pulled to the scene on the stage between Maya and Claudine.

Since they wouldn't be getting into the song or dance for this particular scene just yet, this run through of said scene would be over within the blink of an eye since the song and dance made up a majority of it.

With the talents of Maya and Claudine combined, there was no doubt that they could manage to pull off a waltz on the spur of the moment, but considering the fact that this was just a quick onstage run through, there wouldn't really be any point.

So, the duo took their places on the stage, and once Masai gave them the go ahead to begin, the prince came up behind the peasant maid and wrapped her arms around her from behind as the scene was supposed to go at the end of the song, which caused the peasant maid to release a surprised "Oh!" at the completely unexpected visitor and would have completely backed away if the prince hadn't softly grabbed her hand.

_"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." _Maya, the prince, said calmly.

Claudine's mind went into overdrive at the feel of Maya's hand on her own. It was something that had always occurred whenever the two would touch hands whether it be during a dance routine or just an accidental brush while walking down the hallway together, but this time around, Claudine's mind sent itself into a frenzy.

But then Claudine, as the peasant maid, had to push away the prince's hand and attempt to back away. "_Oh, i-it wasn't that."_

The prince reached out once again to take hold of the peasant maid's hand gently, causing the blonde to turn around again.

_"It's just that you're a..." _The peasant maid stammered, attempting once again to break away from the prince's hand before Maya grabbed it again for the third time. _"A..."_

Maya smiled softly. tilting her head to the side. _"A stranger?"_

_"Mhm." _The blonde replied with a nod of her head.

_"But don't you remember? We've met before."_

_"We have?"_

_"Well, of course. You said so yourself. Once upon a dream."_

"Cut!" Masai shouted with a satisfied smile. "That was great, you two! Not that we ever doubted you or anything! We know better than that!"

"Can you spell ass kisser?" Kaoruko remarked with a whisper, causing Futaba to elbow her in the ribs sharply. "Ow! What?"

Junna, who was leaning her elbow on the arm of the seat with her chin resting in her hand while watching the scene sunk even lower into the seat, the hand cupping her chin running up under the glasses perched on her nose to shield her exasperation.

"Okay," Amemiya began. "This is right about the time when Tendou will start singing the chorus of the song, which will cue the background song for the waltz. Tendou, you'll stop singing right when the song comes on. After that's over, the next scene will begin, which we shall begin when you two are ready."

Maya turned to Claudine and held out her hand. "Shall we?"

Claudine rolled her eyes with a scoff before reaching out to grab Maya's hand. "Don't get too used to this."

"It's too late for that though, isn't it?" Maya inquired. "We've been partnered together in every aspect this school has had to offer for as long as I can remember, so it would be rather difficult for me to tell you that I don't harbor some kind of attachment to you, Saijou-san."

Claudine abruptly turned to face the tall brunette. "What are you saying?"

"Merely that if I were holding someone else's hand instead of yours at this very moment, I wouldn't be holding it as securely. Of course I would make it as real as I possibly could for the sake of this play, but it still would not feel entirely fulfilling for me. If it were anyone else up her beside me instead of you, I would deem it a travesty. There's no one else that could ever be up on this stage beside me but you, Saijou Claudine."

Crimson eyes met lavender ones and for a split second there was no Amemiya, no Masai, or no friends of theirs sitting in the audience seats watching them practice.

There weren't any kind of words in any language to properly describe the tender way in which Maya looked at Claudine in that very moment. The blonde couldn't decipher all of the emotions she had gotten a glimpse of in those damned eyes, but she could tell that none of them were negative ones. Not at all.

If Claudine had been doubting that she deserved the right to stand on this stage as the lead instead of Maya, then all of those doubts would've been erased with those words and that look.

This was Maya's way of making it clear that it didn't matter who out of the two of them was the lead in this play or any of the past ones and the ones that would occur in the future. As long as the two of them still stood side by side on the stage, then all would be right in the world.

They had been partnered together for so long that it wouldn't be right to stand beside anyone else, and it relieved Claudine immensely to see that Maya felt the same way she did about this situation. The tall brunette had just been the only one to admit it, but that's how their relationship with each other worked. Maya was more forward about things while Claudine kept certain things hidden from others.

And as if both her mind and body were on autopilot, the blonde felt her hand slightly tighten the grip she had on Maya's hand. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to physically show Maya she was honored that she felt that way about her.

"The feeling's mutual," The blonde said softly. "Just so you know."

And the small, grateful smile Maya flashed her was enough for Claudine to return it with one of her own.


	5. But If I Know You, I Know What You'll Do

**A/N: ****Thank you guys for continuing to give support to OUAD! It means a lot to me! Just two more chapters after this and then it will be all over sadly. Might work out a sequel to this but then again I might not. Just all depends on the reactions I get and what have you when this one is all said and done. But let's save that talk for after the end. Please enjoy and thank you once again.**

**\- 54**

* * *

_"Friday's forecast calls for scattered showers here and there throughout the area, which should clear up by evening. Then on Saturday, you folks better pack your umbrellas when you start your routine that morning because a thunderstorm will be expected around four A.M. and will last all throughout the day and into the nightime followed by Sunday's forecast of more scattered showers throughout the area..."_

Kaoruko hummed boredly as she studied the Uno cards in her hand. "Why don't they just say it's going to rain all damn weekend? It would save them a lot of time."

Junna, who was seated upon the couch watching the weather station on the television only shrugged her shoulders at maybe the only valid question that she had ever heard the blue-haired devil ask in her life.

Kaoruko placed a card down upon the growing stack of various colored cards. "Draw four, Futaba-han."

The redhead looked at her hand to see if she had another draw four to stack onto it and when she saw that she didn't, she sighed and reached for the deck. "Damn."

The nine girls had found themselves retreating to their shared dorm for the night after the evening's rehearsal had come to an end.

Nana, Junna, and Mahiru had made a direct beeline for the kitchen to start on dinner, while Kaoruko, Futaba, Hikari, and Karen made themselves comfortable in the living room and attempted to hunt an interesting channel to watch on the television, and when they couldn't find anything, Karen ran to her room to get her brand new deck of Uno cards in an attempt to ease their boredom until dinner was ready. Then when it came time for the weather to come on, Junna had exited the kitchen and made herself comfortable on the sofa to watch the weekend forecast.

Maya and Claudine, however, had made a direct beeline for their own respective rooms and shut the door behind them without a word. No one really bothered to make a comment on their behavior and dismissed it as the two going over their things for the play.

"What color?" Futaba asked as she struggled to get her hand in order.

"Yellow." Kaoruko replied, which caused Karen to smack the table with her hand as it was her turn and she had no yellow cards.

"Crap!" The brunette said as she reached for the deck and continued to add cards to her growing hand, not seeing a yellow anywhere in sight.

"You had a draw four earlier, didn't you?" Kaoruko inquired. "Just throw that one down."

Karen gasped as if the blue-haired female had just spat poison in her direction. "I'm not making Hikari draw four, Kaoruko!"

"Well, I made Futaba-han draw four just a second ago, and she's still alive," Kaoruko gestured over to the shorter female across from her, who was nonchalantly sipping from the straw of her juice box. "Besides, Kagura can probably stack onto it if she has one, too."

"Too late," Karen smiled sheepishly. "I'm already drawing."

Futaba placed her juice box down and craned her head to the side to see that the weather forecast was no longer on and had been replaced by the local news. If Junna had been paying attention, she would've already shut the TV off by now and retreated back into the kitchen with Nana and Mahiru.

Her eyes drifted from the TV screen to the purple-haired haired female still seated upon the sofa with her arms crossed and head reclined back to look up at the ceiling.

"Something on your mind, Jun?" The redhead asked.

"Hm?" Junna asked, turning her head slightly to identify the source of the voice before returning her gaze back up to the ceiling. "I guess you could say that, but it's nothing too important."

"If it's making you zone out like that, then it's obviously important," Futaba replied as she laid down her next card onto the pile. "What's up?"

Junna adjusted her position on the sofa to where she was hunched over with her elbows resting on her knees. "It's nothing really. Just thinking about the situation between Saijou-san and Tendou-san."

"They're just being stubborn like always," Kaoruko spoke up. "Like Nana-han said earlier, we've done all that we could, and we will have to trust that everything will work itself out. But I just want to make it clear that I've still got my bet on next month."

"Five months from now!" Karen supplied as she laid her next card down.

"Three for me!" Nana shouted from the kitchen.

"Eavesdropper!" Kaoruko shouted back with a small grin on her face.

"Two." Junna added as well, pushing up her glasses to the bridge of her nose.

Hikari shook her head as she laid down a color wheel card. "This month and soon."

Kaoruko snorted. "You sound pretty confident there, Kagura. What color?"

"Because I am," Hikari simply stated. ''And it's blue now."

The blue-haired devil shot her a one-fingered salute before reaching over to draw from the deck and sighing in relief to see that the first card she got was the color she needed and laid it down onto the pile.

"That's not really what I'm thinking about, though," Junna spoke up as she scratched the back of her head before continuing. "My concern lies with Tendou's parents and the possibility of what kind of reaction they'll have if this does, indeed, happen."

The four girls playing Uno immediately paused their game to look at each other. Even Nana and Mahiru poked their heads in from the entrance to the dorm's kitchen.

Silence permeated so much of the air that one could probably hear a pin drop.

The only thing everyone at Seisho knew about Maya's parents was that they are both actors in their own right, but other than that they remained a complete mystery. Maya herself never really mentioned them a whole lot, and whether that was a good thing or not also remained a mystery because word around the grapevine said Mr. and Mrs. Tendou were a little harsh and strict when it came to their only daughter.

And even though that was only a rumor going around at the academy, the girls in 2-A were more inclined to believe it was a true one considering the stories Maya would sometimes tell about her past on the stage which included her father here and there and judging by the way she would speak about his involvement just made him sound like a drill instructor instead of a father figure. (In Claudine's own words, however, he sounded more like a _"__Un homme amer avec un bâton coincé dans son cul__."_, but there was no way she would ever let that slip to Maya considering it seemed like she loved him just the same.)

Nana cleared her throat to ease the palpable discomfort in the room and spoke quietly. "Dinner is ready. Someone go tell Kuro-chan and Tendou-san, please."

The four girls quickly placed their cards down into the pile, which Karen hurriedly straightened up and laid down in the middle of the table before making her way into the kitchen right behind Hikari and Kaoruko.

"I'll tell them, I guess." Futaba volunteered despite the fact that she was already elected by default to go fetch the pair of females from their rooms after everyone hauled ass into the kitchen before she could even stand up.

After walking through the entrance to the dorm's kitchen, Junna could sense Nana's eyes upon her back and turned around to see that she was leaning back into the counter with her arms crossed.

"We'll talk more about this later before we go to bed, okay?" Nana said quietly so that the others couldn't hear.

Junna released a small breath and wordlessly nodded her head at her tall lover.

* * *

"So, the date for the play has been moved up? Did something happen?"

_"Rien de trop important, maman," _Claudine said into the phone as she lay in her bed staring up at the ceiling of her luxurious canopy bed. "The original date conflicted with the same date as exams, so they just moved it up on account of that. Either that or not have the play at all."

"I see," Her mother replied. "Well, your father and I will still be there no matter what. We're so proud of you, sweetie. I imagine you're still on cloud nine after being cast as the lead. You've worked so hard for this and it finally paid off like I told you it would."

Claudine rolled over onto her side, phone still pressed to her ear. "I guess so."

There was a small pause over the phone before her mother spoke. "You don't sound entirely convinced. Is something wrong?"

"I'm just," Claudine sighed as she rubbed her face. "A little confused, _maman. _That's all."

"Does it have something to do with the play?" A brief static came over the phone as her mother most likely just switched her phone over to the other ear as she probed at her daughter.

Claudine thought her words over carefully before she began to speak. _"Pas entièrement."_

"Or maybe it has something to do with that Tendou girl you're always talking to me about?"

Blood immediately rushed to Claudine's cheeks as she abruptly shot up into a sitting position. _"Maman!"_

Her mother hummed and the blonde immediately pictured the small grin the woman was most likely wearing on her face. "So judging by the tone of your voice, I'm assuming I guessed correctly?"

Claudine looked off to the side with a small pout. "It's not what you think."

_"Putain. _Then I suppose this means that I won't be arranging a wedding anytime soon."

_"Oh mon dieu!" _Claudine sputtered, almost dropping her phone in the process before situating it back snugly between her shoulder and ear. _"Non, maman!"_

The older woman laughed. "Just a joke, sweetie. You can't just jump headfirst into that kind of commitment until you've at least told her how you feel. Can't really skip that step I'm afraid."

_"Maman," _Claudine groaned. "I'm far too young for marriage, so that isn't even an issue here. And how can I even tell that insufferable woman how I feel if I don't even know what it is that I feel?"

"You've got a point," Her mother said. "But if you want my opinion, and I know you probably don't, but I'm going to insert it in here anyway because I'm your mother. But I think you know, Claudine. Somewhere in there deep down. You love that girl. You never really say much to me or your father about your other friends whenever we get a chance to speak over the phone. It's always Tendou Maya this or Tendou Maya that. Your father and I were just talking about this the other day."

"You talk about her like she put the stars in the sky, Claudine. You've done that ever since you first told us about her. We've never heard you talk about anyone like that before. That's when we knew she must be pretty special to you. You can't sit there and tell me you don't know how you feel about her, Claudine, because I think you already know."

Claudine moved her hand up to clutch the phone to her ear to give her shoulder a rest and looked off to the side of her room, completely at a loss for words.

Hearing her mother speak those words tugged at her heartstrings, and it took her back to her conversation with Futaba earlier that evening, who had basically told her the exact same thing just with another type of wording.

Then she thought of what Maya had told her earlier. How it wouldn't feel right to be by anyone else's side on the stage. That statement couldn't have been anymore true. No one belonged at Tendou Maya's side but Saijou Claudine, who downright busted her ass in order to even be considered in the same league as the tall brunette. It was an absolute honor and privilege to be next to Tendou Maya. No one else belonged there but her.

And Saijou Claudine didn't want anyone else by her side but Tendou Maya.

When they were partnered together during class or practicing together until late in the night, everything in the universe felt like it was perfectly balanced. All was right in the world, and nothing else mattered.

Fire was the dominating element of both of their personalities. They say fire with fire only creates more fire, and that couldn't be more true. When Maya displayed her fiery passion for the stage and Claudine bared her own blazing intensity for said stage, it created a beautiful, scorching inferno that illuminated the two with a shine that would most likely damage the naked eye if those embers were visible.

But in Claudine's eyes, Maya could light up a room like no other whether it be on or off the stage. The poise she had and the way in which the tall brunette carried herself was indescribable. The way her hair swayed when she would walk. That damned purple bow that never matched her uniform or any of her casual outfits. That smirk she would throw Claudine's way whenever she had the blonde's attention. That look she would have during class whenever she was trying to answer a very perplexing question. The way her eyes would light up whenever she would find out Nana had made baumkuchen especially for her.

So mature yet so childish.

Claudine found every aspect about Maya very endearing and just the thought of anything having to do with the tall brunette made her heart soar with flying colors. Every color imaginable.

"I do," Claudine confessed quietly, clutching the front of her black shirt. "I do love her, _maman._"

If the blonde had been with her mother in Paris at that very moment, she would have witnessed perhaps the biggest smile that had ever graced her mother's lips. "Then go tell her that. Whenever you're ready. But don't wait too long. _Elle ne t'attendra pas pour toujours._"

That made Claudine chuckle. _"Bien sûr, maman. Bien sûr."_

Before any further conversation could've been had, a knock sounded at her door.

"Yo, Kuro! Dinner's ready! Better come out before it's all gone!"

Futaba. Thank the divine being above for Futaba. Claudine had to tell someone the news lest she burst or come down with something absurd like hanahaki disease.

The blonde stood hurriedly from her bed. "I hate to cut our conversation short, but I have to go, _maman. _Nana has dinner ready, so I'm going to eat then go to bed. I'll call you tomorrow, though. Love you. _Au revoir._"

"Let me know how everything goes, sweetie. Love you, too. _Au revoir._"

As soon as the call ended, Claudine tossed her phone onto her bed, rushed hurriedly over to her door, and flung it open to meet with a stunned redhead.

"What the-?"

_"Viens ici! Maintenant!"_

Before Futaba could even think of walking away, Claudine reached out to grab her by the sleeve of her shirt and all but pulled her into the room, shutting the door behind them and leaning against it as if she were trying to prevent someone else from getting inside.

Futaba quickly recovered her bearings and turned to the blonde with a cocked eyebrow. "What's with you?"

And Claudine could no longer hold back what she thought she would never say in her life.

"I have feelings for that insufferable woman, Futaba! I'm in love with Tendou Maya!"

* * *

"From my understanding, you did not manage to capture the lead role for this production. Am I correct?"

Maya stood in front of her desk, phone held up to her ear while fingers of the other hand absentmindedly toyed with the packet of papers sitting on the surface. The lines and lyrics for the play.

"You are, father."

She could hear the exasperation and disappointment in his voice as he sighed. Nothing she wasn't already used to hearing. It didn't even affect her anymore.

"May I ask why you failed to do so?"

On the day the roles had been given out, Maya had neglected to inform her father that she did not manage to acquire the lead this time around. Mainly because he was only interested in how she was fairing in her studies and if she was still practicing outside of class. As far as he knew, the cast list hadn't been released yet, which had been a total lie that Maya had fabricated in order to buy more time until she could figure out how to properly tell him the news.

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, Maya had retreated into the confines of her room after her normal routine for the day was over so she could properly prepare herself for this moment. Because she knew her father would definitely not like what she was about to say.

But as she thought of the beautiful blonde who would be starring in the lead role of her princess, she felt an almost divine rebirth occur in the depths of her soul.

"Because I didn't even try out for it."

As soon as that sentence finished coming out of Maya's mouth, a complete and total silence could be heard on the other end of the phone.

"Excuse me?" Her father's tone was firm. "Did I just hear those words come from the mouth of a Tendou? You didn't what?"

Maya gulped, but her tone didn't waver. "With all due respect, father, I believe you heard me the first time."

Another disappointed sigh. She could feel his patience with her wearing thin, but there was no turning back now. Not when it was already out in the open and bared for him to see.

"Tendou Maya," He said in an even more firm tone. He was angry. There wasn't a single doubt in the tall brunette's mind. "Your explanation for this had better be a good one."

"There is another girl here," Maya began, turning her attention from the packet on her desk to look at the picture in the frame she had sitting beside it, taken right after the very first performance of _Starlight _with her friends. With the most delicate and gentle touch she could muster, she ran a finger across the face of one Saijou Claudine, the girl who had held her heart since she first tried out to get into this prestigious academy. "One who deserves a lot more than I do. So much more. This girl fits the image of a princess more than anyone else here. Even me. That is something I cannot compete with, father. Even if I did try."

"Allow me to get this straight," Her father spoke slowly and Maya could just imagine how red his face must be at this moment. "You, a member of this well-respected and renowned family, did not try out for the lead all because you thought someone else deserved it more than you? There is no one else more deserving than a Tendou."

"Contrary to what you may believe, father, this girl is more deserving than anyone whether it be in this school, in this city, in this country, or perhaps even in the world. Even the Tendou family. No one has given her credit where credit is due, but you can rest assured I will make it clear how much she means to the stage, to this play, and to me."

Maya's last admission caused her eyes to widen slightly, but as she got another look at the porcelain skin of Claudine's face in the photo, the fingers of the hand she wanted to use to quickly cover her mouth stayed rooted in place, continuing to run over the beautiful girl in the photo delicately.

Her father sighed for what had perhaps been the umpteenth time during this phone call. "What did I tell you when you first started school at Seisho, Maya?"

The tall brunette put all of her willpower into holding back a bored sigh. "Business before pleasure."

"Wouldn't you call this situation an exact opposite of what you just told me?" He asked.

"This is not just something for my entertainment, father," Maya replied in a firm tone, turning away from the photo and readjusting the phone against her ear. "The relationship that I have with this girl will always be something that will be irreplaceable, and if I have to turn my attention away from the stage for her, then I will do so in a heartbeat. I have fallen for her, father. I am so head over heels in love with her that the eyes I have only for the stage even turn to her when she is in the room. That is how powerful my feelings are for Saijou Claudine, and if my being in love disappoints you, then I apologize. Not for disappointing you but because you fail to see the pure elation she makes my soul feel."

More silence over the phone. Maya was expecting the dial tone because she thought he may have hung up, but then he spoke.

"It seems like you have made your choice. I am so disappointed in you, Maya. I was a fool for even thinking you could continue the legacy of this family, but if you are more than willing to throw it all away for a fling with some washed up child actress, then so be it. Call me when you decide to come to your senses. I will be waiting."

There was the dial tone.

Maya slowly removed the phone from her ear and looked down at the pristine screen. She pressed the power button to shut it off and looked at herself in the now dark screen's reflection.

So many emotions ran through her head at that moment. Negative ones like anger and sadness and positive ones like relief and happiness.

The tall brunette turned around to face her desk and pulled out one of the empty side drawers.

"I'm sorry, father, but I must take Hanayagi-san's advice." She said aloud despite no one being around to hear her and placed the phone inside the empty drawer, pushing it firmly closed.

* * *

Junna sat in the chair of her desk, peering into the mirror she had placed on the surface while Nana stood behind her, contently running a brush through the purple locks of her hair.

This was their pre-bedtime routine. Brushing each other's hair. It was something the pair would never tire of. The quietness and being in each other's presence was so soothing and relaxing. Something that was so enjoyable after a hard day's work.

Nana caught a glimpse of Junna's eyes in the mirror, which gave the taller female a clue into what the purple-haired class representative was most likely still thinking about since they arrived at the dorms earlier that evening.

"You're afraid for Tendou-san and Kuro-chan, aren't you?" Nana asked gently, trying not to disturb the quietness in the room.

Junna released a sigh, glasses clutched in her hand. "More like I'm afraid of what kind of wrath Tendou-san's parents will bring down upon her if she and Saijou-san become a thing. Since the Tendou's are only supposed to have eyes for the stage and nothing else."

Nana hummed, continuing to run the brush through her lover's hair. "Whatever may happen, all we can do is be here to support them both. If I could take the brunt of whatever Tendou-san's parents may bring, I would without a second thought all for the sake of Kuro-chan and Tendou-san."

"I know you would," Junna acknowledged, peering up at her tall lover through the mirror with a loving smile. "And so would I."

Nana returned the smile with one of her own before speaking again. "I don't think they'll pull the disownment card on her. That would seem a little harsh to me. How could a parent disown their child?"

Junna wanted to shake her head, but stayed rooted in place so Nana could continue brushing. "I can't imagine something like that, but knowing the little information I have on the Tendou family, they will refuse to disown Tendou because of her stage prowess. You gotta admit she's good at what she does. Disowning her would be a huge mistake on their part no matter which way you look at it."

"Well," Nana paused her ministrations upon Junna's hair to look up at the ceiling before meeting her lover's eyes in the mirror. "If push comes to shove, we'll just have to adopt her then, won't we?"

The class representative chuckled. "Adopt Tendou? That would definitely be something."

"I didn't hear a no?" Nana asked with a grin before placing her hands under her banana-shaped twintails. "Bananice!"

"Well, I mean I wouldn't mind taking Tendou in if push comes to shove like you said. Sounds like she could use some loving parents if you ask me." Junna replied.

Nana smiled at her lover through the mirror as she laid the brush aside. "All done."

The purple-haired female stood from her seat and turned around to the taller female and stood on the tips of her toes in order to reach Nana's lips for a quick kiss.

"Thank you," She began. "I feel a whole lot better about Tendou-san's situation since we have a game plan installed."

Nana giggled, bringing her arms around the shorter female's shoulders. "No matter what may happen, we'll be ready if we are needed."

"Definitely." Junna replied just before the two shared their final kiss for the night.

* * *

**A/N: ****Guess you guys know what's coming next, right? Hmmmm...**

**\- 54**


	6. You'll Love Me At Once

**A/N: One more chapter to go after this! Thank you all for continuing to read this thing! Warms my heart!**

**There will be an author's note at the end with some important translations, so please watch out for that.**

**\- 54**

* * *

Claudine exited her bedroom, track suit donned and duffel bag in hand, shutting the door behind her before beginning her trek down the hall.

While in the midst of said trek, she passed by a casually dressed Futaba, who had the stick of a lollipop protruding out of the side of her mouth as she went.

"Futaba," The blonde nodded in greeting, turning around to walk backwards in order to keep her eyes on the short female, who was going the opposite direction. "Have you seen Tendou Maya anywhere this morning?"

The redhead removed the candy stick from her mouth before answering. "She headed out about fifteen minutes ago. Better go catch her," She winked with a small grin. "Good luck."

_"Merci." _Claudine smiled before turning back around to continue her trek out of the dorms.

As she exited the doors, the blonde missed a certain blue-haired devil emerge from the room she shared with Futaba and made her way to the door of the room belonging to the trio of Karen, Mahiru, and Hikari, making sure to deliver a vicious beating to the offending piece of wood as a means to wake two of the three that may or may not have still been in the bed despite it being almost noon.

When the door opened, Karen and Hikari stood there while Mahiru could be heard in the background berating them for all the snack wrappers and chip bags they had left in the floor after their midnight snack session last night.

Kaoruko paid no heed to any of the commotion and held up a shiny piece of plastic in front of the childhood best friends and happily announced.

"Who wants to sneak into town for lunch? I got Kuro-han's credit card! I got Kuro-han's credit card!"

* * *

Droplets of rain began to fall from the sky as Claudine entered the main entrance to Seisho Music Academy and made a direct beeline for the practice room.

Once she arrived, the door was already slid firmly shut and music could be heard coming from the other side, which automatically clued her in on Maya's whereabouts.

The very thought of the object of her newfound affections being in close proximity after her recent realization caused her heart to beat faster, which would probably cause her ears to turn as red as beets, so she paused to take a little breather to calm herself before moving forward to slide the door open.

Tendou Maya's hair was swaying in time with her movements as she waltzed with an invisible partner that in just a few mere minutes would be replaced by Claudine herself. The tall brunette was in her natural born state. Fierce yet graceful. Poise oozed with every fluid step she took across the hardwood floor. So beautiful and so focused.

Claudine would have been more than content to just stand there and watch the beauty that was called Tendou Maya dance undisturbed, but she knew she had to jump in at some point because they really needed to practice for the play and maybe if she was lucky she would have just enough time to squeeze in a quick confession. Just maybe.

Maya was so wrapped up in her dancing that she wasn't even the slightest bit aware Claudine had finally arrived until she heard the music stop and a duffel bag drop to the floor, causing the tall brunette to stop abruptly in her tracks and turn to face the blonde directly.

"Bold of you to begin practice without me, Tendou Maya," Claudine crossed her arms at her chest.

The corner of Maya's mouth tugged up into an arrogant looking smirk before she fired back with shots of her own. "Bold of you to assume I even need a partner, Saijou Claudine."

Claudine snorted as she walked toward the brunette slowly, arms still crossed. "Well, I really hate to be the one to shatter that obnoxious ego of yours bu-, no, actually I will take great pleasure in shattering that obnoxious ego of yours. _Pardonnez moi. _But you need me and I need you so we have to do this thing and we have to do this thing right. _Point période vierge._"

Maya feigned hurt by placing a hand to her chest. "Consider my obnoxious ego shattered, but I guess I can make an exception for a princess such as yourself. Care to join me?"

And as the brunette reached out her hand, Claudine breathed in deeply to steel her nerves before reaching forward to claim that hand with her own and using the other to reach to the side and restart the song.

As the pair took up their positions for a standard waltz, the lyrics bloomed forth over the tempo of the song and they began to dance.

_'I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.'_

Every movement they made wafted a familiar fragrance towards Claudine's nostrils and she immediately recognized what it was.

"Are you wearing perfume?" She inquired the taller female. Thankfully, the music wasn't too loud otherwise Claudine would've had to practically shout in the brunette's face in order for her to hear.

"I am," Maya replied as the two spun around. "It is the same fragrance you brought back to me as a gift when you returned from France at the start of the school year. I only use it for special occasions such as this."

"It's just a regular old bottle of perfume that can be purchased anywhere," Claudine normally would have looked off to the side lest her face turn red, but because a waltz required all attention to be on your partner, she had to keep her gaze focused on the girl in front of her. "I wouldn't call it special at all."

Maya hummed. "I disagree. Because it was a gift from you, it makes it very special to me."

_'And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem.'_

The song continued carrying on, but to Claudine at this point in time, it was just background noise to her. Something that didn't matter right now.

"Special isn't the word I would use in the same sentence when someone is referring to me." The blonde confessed shyly, pouring forth all of her willpower into keeping her gaze on her partner's face. She could feel the burn on her cheeks grow hotter as time ticked by.

Maya caught a glimpse of the redness on the blonde's face, which caused a small grin to bloom on her face. "Again, I disagree. If you were not special, then you would not have been accepted into this school or be here practicing alone with me, would you? Don't sell yourself short, Saijou-san. You are as special and as authentic as they come."

There was the fire again. The blazing inferno Claudine had seen before in Maya's lavender irises had arisen from the ashes like a newly reborn phoenix and raged on like an out of control wildfire. More large and more beautiful than Claudine had ever seen before.

"Not many people have been too kind to me over the years," Maya continued on. "My parents mean well, yes, but I don't have a connection with them like other children do with their parents. I have always been rather jealous in that department. Your mother and father seem to love you very much, Saijou-san, and that is something you should always treasure no matter how old you become."

Claudine stayed silent as the two continued their waltz around the hardwood floor, giving Maya the silent go ahead to continue.

"There are girls at this school who aren't too particularly fond of me. Not that it really mattered to me initially. You are going to have some people who like you and some people who do not. That is just how it works in show business and even in affairs outside of show business. Once they saw I was not bothering to give them a second glance, they started pulling underhanded tricks like leaving tacks in my shoes, hiding my costumes from me, and other horrid things like that. More annoying than hurtful in retrospect."

The blonde caught a glimpse of the almost far away look in the taller female's eyes and instinctively adjusted the grip she had on Maya's hand as some kind of metaphorical tether, which the brunette welcomed.

"But you have always been nothing but kind to me. There have been so many opportunities you could have used to your advantage to sabotage me, but you never have. You just aren't that type of person, and I have always admired you for that, Saijou-san. You have such a kind heart, and you treat everyone around you with fairness. Not many people are like that, so I thank you for being the way you are."

"No one has ever said anything like that to me before," Claudine breathed, but then her tone turned serious. "And I hope you know those detestable girls aren't even on a level below you. I'm sorry they did those terrible things to you."

"It's quite alright," Maya said before a smirk emerged from her lips. "From what I heard, Isurugi and Hoshimi had quite the enjoyable time restraining you the day you found out."

The blonde practically seethed. "If they hadn't have kept me in my room all day that day, then I would have most assuredly found out every name of every girl in the school that had picked on you, walked right up to them personally, and punched them in the throat. If that's how they treat their competition, then they just need to forget about being a stage girl and leave."

"I never took you for the fighting type, Saijou-san, but I am grateful you did not follow through with any of that, especially for my sake. You could have faced expulsion."

_"Tu as raison," _ Claudine visibly gulped at what she was about to admit next. "But they were hurting you, and I wasn't satisfied with just being a bystander. I knew you were staying strong, but there's only so much harassment a person can take. So, with Futaba and Hoshimi's help, I calmed down enough to where I could approach them and talk with them personally. And I will stay true to what I promised them that day. If I even catch one of them around any of your personal belongings, then I will punch them in the throat without a second thought."

Coincidentally, the bullying against Tendou Maya stopped that day and had never happened again. Maya considered it an absolute blessing to not have to keep a watchful eye out for anything in her shoes or any of her other personal things anymore.

Claudine had never informed her personally about what had transpired that day until now. The only reason Maya knew the little information she knew was because she had overheard a conversation between Junna and Futaba inside the common room just when she had been about to enter said room.

"Besides," The blonde continued. "My efforts must not have been in vain because you seem to have gained more suitors than enemies since then."

"So it would seem," Maya said slowly as she silently tried to discern what kind of emotion Claudine had emitted through that one little sentence alone. "Flattering as it may be, it can be rather annoying at times. However, I can appreciate the bravery it took to gather up the courage to confess. Merely because it is something even _I_ have not been able to achieve."

The revelation of Maya perhaps harboring feelings for someone caused Claudine to deflate like a balloon on the inside, but at the same time, it gave her hope.

"Don't be so ambiguous. If that's how you'll act around a potential significant other, then you'll just confuse this poor girl that you're talking about." Claudine says as Maya spins her around gracefully.

"I don't recall mentioning a girl, Saijou-san. Only the fact that I have never been able gather the courage to confess, but I never said to whom and if there was a whom."

The smirk on Maya's face was enough to make Claudine visibly bristle as a result.

"See what I mean?! If there ever comes a day when you, Tendou Maya, find yourself having to confess your feelings to someone, you'll only confuse that someone even further! If you want someone to know how you feel, then you can't just beat around the bush and expect them to know what you're trying to say! That isn't how it works!"

Claudine didn't realize that the waltz she and Maya were in the middle of performing had abruptly stopped until she had finished her tirade. And judging by the slight distance in which the two were separated, the blonde assumed she had been the one to break away from Maya instead of the other way around.

The song, however, continued to play without a hitch.

_'But if I know you, I'll know what you'll do. You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.'_

And as the song proceeded on, Claudine couldn't bring herself to look at the girl in front of her simply because she realized what she had been preaching to Maya just a second ago applied more to herself.

Who was she to address Maya on how to properly confess when she couldn't even take her own advice in the first place?

Coming to terms with your feelings and making the decision to confess was the easiest part of the process, but actually following through with it was the hard part.

It had been easy to confess it to her mother and Futaba, but now that she was alone in this room with the very person she harbored these feelings for, it proved to be difficult to confess, let alone breathe.

Of all the times when everything could have finally sunk in, it had to be now. Claudine had to resist the overwhelming urge to run both hands down her face in exasperation.

And that's when Maya padded quietly over and placed a comforting hand upon the blonde's shoulder.

"Are you alright, Saijou-san?" She asked despite already knowing the answer. For Claudine to just up and break away from her while in the midst of a dance like that was a definite clue that something was amiss.

Claudine could feel the gaze of those damned eyes being pointed at her, which only served to make her feel even more self-conscious. The soft hand on her shoulder certainly did not help either.

It was funny how things worked. Over the last year and a half, interacting with Maya had grown to become a second nature to her, but now as a result of the newly discovered feelings she had definitely been harboring for quite some time, the game had changed drastically.

It all made sense to Claudine now.

Why the parts of her skin would burn after being touched softly by the tall brunette, whether it be an accidental brushing of skin to skin contact or the inevitable contact they would have to take part in whenever they paired up during class or in private practice sessions like the one they were in the midst of now.

Why her heart would race whenever she would be in Maya's presence both on and off the stage, which Claudine had always dismissed as an adrenaline rush as a result of the thrill of the competition.

Why she would feel a sense of jealousy whenever she would catch a glimpse of someone confessing to Maya. At this particular thought, Claudine identified it wasn't just jealousy that she had always felt during those times, but envy as well. So much envy for not having the guts to do what those girls had done.

Why those rumors were circulating around the academy in the first place. Rare were the moments when Claudine wasn't within close radius of the tall brunette. They did practically everything together, so of course it was bound to stir attention from outsiders at some point.

Why Futaba had been so insistent about her feelings for Maya being love instead of starstruck admiration. It had been hard to take in then, and it was still hard to take in now just thinking about it.

Yes, last night's phone call with her mother had helped confirm her apparently blatant attraction to Maya, but right here and right now in this moment, everything immediately sunk in and for Claudine, it was a lot to take in. A definite wake up call.

And despite the bombardment of thoughts that were running through her mind at that moment, Claudine's brain registered the softest pressure imaginable located on her right shoulder where Maya's hand rested comfortingly, skin tingling from the touch even though the barriers of her track jacket and shirt.

In the past, Claudine had felt this familiar sensation multiple times and had always easily dismissed it as nothing important, but now that the game had changed, it was no longer easy to dismiss.

And for just a brief moment, Claudine finally gave in and allowed herself to embrace the sensation of Maya's hand upon her. No dismissal. No forcing her mind to pay attention to anything else but the simple touch. No, she was going to allow herself to be selfish just this once.

And what a pleasant sensation it was. Almost as if her skin thirsted for Maya's touch and Maya's touch alone. Sort of like a dry desert yearning for the rain.

Elation mixed with trepidation surged through the blonde's bloodstream, but she ignored it for the time being to savor this feeling. A feeling she had denied herself for so long.

It made her wonder why she had even denied herself the right to explore this feeling in the first place, but in the end it all boiled down to stubborn pride. Every opportunity she had ever had to embrace this feeling had been pushed away without a care in the world, and there had been so many of them.

Meanwhile, Maya's eyes had yet to stray from the blonde's profile, gauging every discernible emotion she could catch a glimpse of from this view of Claudine's face. And once she felt Claudine relax, she spoke.

"I agree. Every word of what you just said to me was true," Maya admitted before offering her other hand out to Claudine. "So if you will allow me to have this last dance for today, then you can rest assured I will find a way to be more expressive with the way I feel from now on."

Claudine looked at the outstretched hand in front of her then up to Maya's eyes, where she could see a steadily burning fire there.

To test the waters, Claudine kept her gaze on those eyes as she reached for Maya's hand, and once their hands made contact, the steadily burning fire morphed into an even bigger one.

That's when an epiphany popped up in Claudine's mind, but she couldn't afford to jump to conclusions at this point in time or else her mind would kick into overdrive again. So, she ignored it for the time being and just allowed herself to _feel _instead of _think._

As Maya led them back to the center of the room, their gazes never wavered from each other's eyes. The beautiful color of Maya's eyes and the steadily burning embers inside them were more than enough to distract Claudine from every thought racing through her head.

The song playing in the background had been on a repetitive loop the whole time, and while Maya and Claudine silently made their way to the center of the room, it began all over again and the lyrics spilled forth.

_'I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.'_

Once the two were there, their two held hands remained intact. Maya placed her other hand on the side of Claudine's waist, and in turn, the blonde placed her other hand on Maya's shoulder.

Like two puzzle pieces fitting perfectly together.

Sometimes whenever they would get into position together, Maya would purposely provoke a response from Claudine by playfully asking her if she was nervous. Of course it worked and would send the blonde into a tirade every time, which never ceased to amuse the tall brunette.

But there was absolutely no trace of amusement in any of Maya's facial features whatsoever right now. No signs of a grin or a smirk at all. Only raw passion and what seemed to be pure adoration in those eyes while the rest of her body radiated regal stoicism like it always did. If Tendou Maya was nervous, then she was doing one hell of a job covering it up.

And even as the duo took their first steps into the dance, crimson and lavender continued to collide, neither backing down from each other's gaze as they moved across the hardwood floor to the song.

_'I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.'_

The tension in the room hit a formidable pinnacle, but neither party paid it any attention. Instead, Maya and Claudine did the one thing that was crucial to dancing with a partner, which was to focus on each other and only each other. No words needed to be said. Instead, they let their gazes and their body language do all the talking for them.

_'And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem.'_

All words that had been spoken last night during their phone calls back home - Claudine with her mother and Maya with her father - were long forgotten in this moment along with everything else. The rumors, the play, their friends, the academy, the weight of the expectations that were placed on them had all faded away from their minds for the time being.

Instead, they focused on their senses and the feeling of being with each other. The weight both females carried on their shoulders had been left outside of the room for the time being and just moved freely around the room. Maya without the shackles and bindings she had worn for years all because of her last name and Claudine without the frenzied thoughts of her mind running rampant.

_'But if I know you, I know what you'll do.'_

The fire in Maya's eyes grew as their waltz continued. Claudine felt no intimidation whatsoever from that look and instead matched it with one of her own without even realizing she was doing so.

Maya's own gaze had yet to waver from Claudine's crimson irises, and when the tall brunette caught a glimpse of the growing fire there, the pace of their dance slightly increased without either one of them actually being aware that it did.

But that didn't hinder either of the two girls' steps as they smoothly adjusted to the new pace, too busy with each other to even notice what had happened.

Many of the Seisho students had said the two looked like a professional pair of dancers before, but if any of those girls had been in the practice room at this point in time, they would have been in awe. The dancing they had bore witness to during class wasn't even the final form of what Tendou Maya and Saijou Claudine could do together.

The elegant fluidity and quick but elegant pace of this waltz made the two girls look like polished professionals, and the fact that neither of them were thinking of anything but each other just showed that they were, indeed, bonded by a force that most would consider fate.

The epiphany that had struck Claudine earlier proved to be true.

_She _had been the one that had an effect on the fire in those purple irises.

_She _was the only one who could ever garner such a look from Tendou Maya.

_She _was the one that held the key to unlocking the tall brunette's full potential for the stage and everything else in between.

There wasn't a stage anywhere in sight. Only Claudine. The raw passion and pure adoration laced in the wildfire of purple roared at this moment for her and her only.

At the recognition of this discovery, the fire in Claudine's own eyes reached an unimaginable height to match the one looking back at her.

But that's how it always was. Whatever Maya would do, Claudine would follow suit in order to keep up. Even without knowing. Seeds of an unbreakable bond sown into the rich soil of fate and watered down with determination and passion, growing over time and with great care into the most rare and beautiful blossom of an unbreakable love.

_'You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.'_

And the same could be said for Maya. She was the one that held the key to unlocking Claudine's full potential. If that were not true, then the blonde would not have spent the last couple of years pushing herself to reach the tall brunette's practically flawless level.

The rivalry they had carried for the longest time against each other had been left outside of the practice room for the moment, completely abandoning it along with everything else. Right now, there was nothing to hold them down. Nothing holding their minds captive as prisoners. Their senses and each other were the only things they focused on.

The feeling of being held by the other and the touch of their skin. It was something they had both neglected and taken for granted for the longest time.

The scent of Maya's perfume permeated the air and attacked Claudine's sense of smell but not in a negative way. Never in a negative way. For Claudine, it was very endearing to hear that the tall brunette kept this kind, the kind the blonde had brought back for her, for special occasions. To think that someone like Maya would do that all because of it being a gift from her made her heart soar.

_'But if I know you, I know what you'll do.'_

The song flooded through their sense of hearing, completely drowning out the thudding of their racing hearts. Even though neither one of them had stopped to adjust the volume, it seemed almost as if the song had gotten louder with every step they had taken and continued to do so.

Maya was the only thing in Claudine's line of sight. Even with a thin sheen of sweat glistening on the skin of her face, the tall brunette was still as beautiful as she always was. And with the way Maya was looking at her at this moment, Claudine could not have denied her feelings anymore even if she had wanted to.

This is where she belonged. At the side of the beautiful and charming Tendou Maya, whether it be on the stage or anywhere else. Claudine just couldn't imagine a life without her, and if she were to perhaps one day disappear off the face of the earth without a trace, the blonde would spend her whole life searching for her if she had to. It was only natural since she had already been following after Maya for so long. So long that if there would come a day when Maya would ask her to follow her into hell, Claudine would do so without a second thought and run after the tall brunette's retreating form into the fiery flames.

_'You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.'_

And for Maya, Claudine was all she could see in her field of vision. The blonde's physical features were different from a majority of the other girls in this country, but that's what made Claudine stand out from them. Of course it made sense since the blonde was half of another nationality entirely, but again that's just what made her stand out from everyone else. However, that wasn't the only thing about Claudine that had caught Maya's attention in the first place.

The amount of drive and determination the blonde had shown in their rivalry stunned the tall brunette at the very beginning. Mainly because most of the girls that had tried their damndest to maintain pace with Maya in the past had quickly given up and dropped out of Seisho one by one.

But Claudine never did. Even though she had suffered failure here and there, she still stayed in tune with Maya regardless, and that was something Maya had grown to admire over time.

Claudine had always been right behind her ever since the day they first met. Sometimes Maya would find herself looking over to make sure that beautiful face was still right there following her from behind, and she was never disappointed.

_'I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.'_

And Maya did not regret what she had said to her father last night. He and her mother had already laid out her life for her before she was even fully knitted together in the womb, so she didn't get to partake in most things that children did as she grew up. Maya loved her parents dearly and knew they wanted what was best for her, but it began to grow old really quick.

But then she met Karen, Hikari, Mahiru, Nana, Junna, Futaba, Kaoruko, and Claudine and everything changed. She finally had friends, and it was so different from the isolation she had been accustomed to all her life. It took her a while, but once she had finally gotten used to having them around, it felt _so _good. They had made her feel welcome and at home. From the homely qualities of Nana making sure she had eaten that day and Mahiru making sure her room was completely spotless all the way down to the comedic timing of Karen's jokes and Kaoruko's one-liners, it all made Maya feel whole.

And as for Claudine, Maya could go on forever and ever. She had loved the blonde for so long, and she knew there would be a day coming when an ultimatum would be handed down on her on who she would have to choose. The tall brunette loved her father, but she knew she would not have been able to endure the agonizing pain of giving up Claudine.

Her friends had taught her what it felt to be truly happy, and she wanted to give them happiness back in return, but for Claudine, she would sprout wings and fly her to the stars just to see her smile. Every time the blonde smiled, it felt like she had been shot by cupid's arrow.

And if Maya were to let that thought slip to Kaoruko, she knew the blue-haired devil would have most likely slapped a diaper on Futaba and stuck a bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows on her back and told her to go forth to make the metaphor a reality.

_'I know you, that gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.'_

Besides, Maya knew her father would come around eventually when he saw that she was not to be moved. Her mother was most likely attempting to get him to listen to reason by saying that their daughter knew what she was doing. Maybe. Sometimes her mother sided with her father, and sometimes she did not. But it didn't matter because Maya was willing to sacrifice everything she knew if it meant Claudine would always stay right here with her.

_'And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem.'_

Claudine's heart was so full. She could no longer deny the feelings she held for Maya even if she wanted to. That infuriating aura the tall brunette always radiated was just too strong, and she had tried so hard to keep herself from getting pulled into it but she did not have the strength to fight it anymore. She was so in love with this infuriating woman.

_'But if I know you, I know what you'll do.'_

_'You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.'_

Maya slightly dipped Claudine back as the lyrics to the song ended, crimson and purple still very much ablaze as they continued to gaze at each other.

But then the eye contact the duo had maintained for so long had abruptly ended, and they could longer restrain themselves from doing the one thing they didn't know they desired the most until now.

Their lips collided, stamping the final seal on the unbreakable bond they had created together.

Claudine slid her arms up Maya's shoulders, eventually coming to a stop as they wrapped carefully around the tall brunette's neck to hold her in place. Maya's own arms wound themselves fully around Claudine's torso, bringing the blonde up from the dip to place her steadily on her feet.

Their closeness remained intact, even when Maya slid one hand up Claudine's back and came to a stop at the back of her head, bunching up a few tresses of her blonde hair as she did so.

Claudine whimpered in approval and brought a hand up to the back of Maya's own head. Taking careful consideration of that damned purple bow, Claudine's fingers landed just underneath it, feeling the softness of those long brunette locks of hair. Claudine had imagined before how soft Maya's hair probably felt to the touch, but actually getting to touch it and realizing it way softer than she initially thought sent her reeling almost.

To be gifted with a singing prowess also came with the gift of a great lung capacity, but since they had already been breathing heavily from the heat of their practice and the smothering tension in the room, both Maya and Claudine eventually broke apart, albeit reluctantly, in order to catch their breath.

Claudine was in a whole different world as she brought a hand up to run slowly and gently across her lips, silently savoring the tingling sensation she was feeling in them.

Maya smiled, and for once it wasn't the signature Tendou Maya smirk she was used to sporting, and ran the back of her thumb across her mouth, waiting patiently for a response from her partner.

Eventually, Claudine returned to earth once everything that transpired had fully sunk into her brain, and once she caught a glimpse of an actual smile on Maya's face, she spent the last remnants of her energy attempting to glare at the tall brunette, but quickly gave in.

Instead, she resumed her closeness with Maya, pressing her face into her shoulder and bringing her arms up under the tall female's own, hands coming to a gentle rest on Maya's back.

"You infuriating ass," Claudine said in a breathy and spent voice, hands bunching up the fabric of Maya's track jacket as she breathed in the last remnants of perfume that remained on the brunette's form. "If you wanted to kiss me, all you had to do was ask. You didn't have to charm your way into it. Not when you have already succeeded in that area long ago."

"Well, I certainly did not hear you complaining in the midst of things," Maya replied as she returned Claudine's embrace. "It might just be me, but I believe you quite enjoyed it, did you not?"

The blonde's groan was muffled by Maya's shoulder. "I swear if I didn't wholeheartedly adore you, Tendou Maya, I would not hesitate to punch you."

"Ah, was that a confession?" Maya inquired playfully with a raised eyebrow. "Because if that was your intention, then I have no choice but to honorably accept."

"Ugh, _bein_," Claudine removed her head from Maya's shoulder to meet her eyes, gazing at the taller female with every ounce of pure adoration she held for her. "If you're going to make me say it, then I suppose I have no other choice, do I?"

When Maya showed no signs of making an effort to reply, Claudine exhaled softly and swallowed hard.

_"Je t'aime," _The blonde began in her native tongue. _"Je t'aime tellement. J'ai toujours fait ça, et ça m a pris un bon moment pour le réaliser. Mais finalement, je l'al fait, et je suis si reconnaisasante que ça s est passé. Peu importe ce qu'être divin est au travail savait exactement ce que ça faisat quand il m a mené à toi, ma Maya."_

Claudine was not surprised one bit when she was met with silence from Maya's end and could not help but grin in celebration of her small victory of leaving the great Tendou Maya speechless.

_"Le sentiment est mutuel de toutes les façons," _The tall brunette responded carefully._ "C'est toi et que mes yeux recherchent même quand je suis sur scéne. Juste quand je pensais que seul le stage pouvait donner mon être avec un bonheur indescriptible, l'univers m a envoyé. Je ne sais pas ce que j'ai fait pour mériter un tel honneur, mais je suis trés chanceux. Je t'aime, et je m assure que tu saches que je vis et respire chaque jour, ma Claudine."_

Waves of shock ran through Claudine's body as her jaw dropped, quickly shutting it and turning away in order to recover.

Of course Tendou Maya would go the distance to one up her even in her own native language. It wasn't as fluid as it should have been and she had clearly struggled with the pronunciation of a few words here and there, but still it was pretty damn good for a novice. If she even was a novice. Hell, she had probably been trying to learn it for a while now for all Claudine knew.

Another example of the many surprises that came from the mysterious top star.

All that aside, the fact that Maya returned the confession in Claudine's own language served to melt the blonde's heart beyond belief. How could a person be so insufferable yet so charming and endearing at the same time?

The very thought made Claudine chuckle as she shook her head. Then, she looked back over to Maya. "I honestly cannot believe you right now. And I suppose you learned that just for me?"

_"Exactement," _Maya replied as her smile morphed into a grin. "I have been studying it for quite some time actually, and I deemed this the necessary moment to put it to use."

The smile on Claudine's face radiated brighter than the sun even as she playfully rolled her eyes.

_"Méchante va!" _The blonde said with absolutely no malace or contempt present in her voice. "You truly are infuriating. My heart just had to choose you, didn't it?"

Maya moved closer to Claudine, taking her porcelain-toned hand in her own and placing her fingers between the blonde's digits, squeezing gently before she spoke softly.

"I am most certainly glad it did, and I will be forever grateful for that. My heart belongs to you as well. It has for the longest time. I cannot imagine it ever belonging to anyone else, so I implore you to please keep it safe for me, Saijou-san."

Both Maya and Claudine were fully aware that their faces had slowly gravitated toward each other during all of this, their faces just merely inches away at this point.

"As long as you do the same for me in return," Claudine replied, the breath of every word she spoke ghosting upon Maya's lips. "But from now on, call me by my first name, you idiot."

And before the tall brunette could give the reply on the tip of her tongue a voice, Claudine's lips pressed against hers, sparking the beginning of their second kiss that day while rain continued to pour down outside.

* * *

**A/N: ****Basically here's what was said in those two long paragraphs of french.**

**Claudine - "I love you. I love you so much. I always have, and it took me a long time to realize that. But finally, I did, and I'm so grateful that it happened. Whatever divine being is at work knew exactly what it was doing when it led me to you."**

**Maya - "The feeling is mutual in every way. It has always been you that my eyes search for even when I am on the stage. Just when I thought only the stage could fill me with indescribable happiness, the universe sent you to me. I do not know what I did to deserve such an honor, but I am very lucky. I love you, and I assure that you will know that as I live and breathe every day."**

**See you at the end!**

**\- 54**


	7. The Way You Did Once Upon A Dream (P1)

**A/N: ****How are y'all? It has certainly been a while! I have not abandoned this at all. I have been dealing with some things in my life from adjusting to a new job to struggling with adulthood and a bunch of other stuff, so it's been hard getting the motivation to write anything. And Disney Plus has come out so that has made my procrastination take a turn for the worse. But I do apologize, guys.**

**Also this chapter is so big that I had to split it up into two parts. It's going to be eight chapters instead of seven. Hope you don't mind the extra reading and waiting!**

**\- 54**

* * *

Days had passed by quickly and before the girls of both class A and B could even begin to register it, the night of the play was already upon them.

People were filing in through the double doors and making their way to their seats, while some had already been seated and were waiting patiently for the show to begin.

Junna, already clothed in the robes of the king, had pulled the curtain back in an attempt to get a glimpse of how many people there were in attendance. Her crown was in the other hand, the side of it pressed against her hip as she held it in place there.

"It seems we have quite the turnout this year," She surmised aloud to her other cast and crew mates in the backstage area with her. "Perhaps a bigger turnout than we had with _Starlight _last year."

This caught the attention of Karen, who immediately made her way over to where the purple-haired girl was, scarlett-colored garbs of Flora the fairy flowing behind her as she did so.

Junna moved out of the way to let Karen take her place at the curtain, keeping a watchful eye out for the wings on the brunette's back in case they were to clip her in the face on accident.

Karen's hand took the turn of holding back the curtain, peering out at the mass of people, and once she got a good look, she turned to face the actress playing the role of the king.

"I believe you're right, Jun Jun!" She exclaimed with what seemed to be stars in her eyes before peering back out again. "Hikari! Mahiru! You guys need to check this out!"

The two aforementioned females made their way over to where the brunette was. Mahiru's green-colored garbs swaying behind her in her brisk walk with Hikari trailing behind at a slower pace in her garbs of blue.

Junna walked away from the trio grouped around the curtain, eventually coming to a stop where a couple of stage hands from class B were helping Kaoruko into her Maleficent costume.

Futaba, already in the costume of the prince's father, was standing there sipping on a bottle of water, only speaking whenever her opinion on whether or not a part of the blue-haired devil's costume needed adjusting was needed.

"Is there a problem with the costume?" Junna prodded as she sidled up to the redhead.

Futaba had been about to take a drink from the bottle, but once she had heard the purple-haired female speak, she immediately stopped herself. "Nah, there's nothing wrong, Jun. Just Kaoruko being Kaoruko. That's all."

"Excuse you!" Kaoruko snapped, eyes remaining closed while the two stage hands were adjusting the Maleficent horns. "If I'm going to wear this thing on stage, then I need to look absolutely stunning! Not that I'm not already absolutely stunning, but still! And am I the only one that's burning up? It's hot as hell back here! Futaba-han, could you please be a dear and go turn the air conditioning on full blast?"

"Yeah, yeah," Futaba waved a hand in dismissal as she took a drink from her bottle. After swallowing down the refreshing gulp, she spoke again, but this time under her breath so only Junna could hear her. "Already complaining and they haven't even started on her makeup yet. That should be fun."

Wordlessly, Junna placed a comforting hand on the redhead's shoulder, showing that she completely empathized with her pain, which Futaba acknowledged with a small, lazy grin before twisting the cap back in place on the water bottle and setting off to search for the backstage area's air conditioning system.

"Break a leg tonight, rep!" Kaoruko called out to the purple-haired female, eyes opening just as the stage hands at her side had finally finished helping her into her costume.

"You as well, Hanayagi-san." Junna replied with a nod before turning away to trek deeper into the backstage area, passing by more stage hands as they scrambled to get everything together.

The girls playing the parts of Maleficent's underlings had already been dressed and were standing around off to the side, some of them conversating with each other and some helping the stage hands with last minute adjustments.

Nana was there, too, already clothed in the costume of the queen and speaking to a couple of the aforementioned girls before she spotted Junna and excused herself.

"Here," The taller female spoke, holding out the two objects clutched in both of her hands. "You left your contact lens case and your glasses in the dressing room. I would have put them in your bag, but I didn't see it in there."

Junna sighed and shook her head. Honestly, if Nana hadn't been there at her side, she would definitely be a lost cause. One of those types that would lose her head if it was not already attached to her body.

"Thank you, Nana," The purple-haired girl replied with a smile as she reached forward to take both items from her lover. "I honestly don't know what I would do without you."

Nana smiled. "I wouldn't say that, Junna. You're the smartest one out of our little bunch, so I think you would be pretty capable on your own. But I'm here with you. I have your back, and you have mine. That's something that will never change."

"I feel the same way," Junna replied, reaching for Nana's hand. "My life hasn't been the same since I met you, and I'm very grateful for that. I love you, you know? I love everything about you, even though I don't show it a lot. I have never been one for displays of affection. Especially public ones, but I really do love you, Nana."

"I know. I love you, too. So much." Nana said as she moved to capture the purple-haired female in a loving hug.

The little moment between the two did not last long, however, for when Kaoruko passed by the two, the blue-haired devil shouted "Very subtle, not-lesbians!" before delivering a playful smack to Junna's backside, laughing as she did so.

Futaba, who had been on her way back from completing Kaoruko's early request, witnessed the incident and immediately voiced to the blue-haired devil about how uncalled for that was, which Kaoruko only acknowledged with a half-assed shrug of her shoulders as she continued to pass by.

The redhead pinched the bridge of her nose before looking over her shoulder and mouthing her apologies to the pair of lovers as she proceeded to follow behind Kaoruko.

Neither Nana nor the red-faced Junna knew what to say after that whole ordeal, but the purple-haired female decided to break the awkward silence between them, clearing her throat beforehand.

"Have you seen Tendou-san or Saijou-san at all?" She began. "I haven't seen them since yesterday, but I guess that's because I've been busy helping Amemiya and Masai prepare for tonight."

"They're getting dressed," Nana replied, crossing her arms. "Once they're good to go, both Amemiya and Masai should give us the green light to begin."

"What do you mean you can't find your wand, Hikari? I literally just set it out for you while we were in the dressing room!"

The heads of both Nana and Junna turned toward the curtain where the trio of Karen, Mahiru, and Hikari had been busy peeking out at the crowd of people filing into their seats.

Or at least that was what they were doing until Hikari casually brought up the fact that she could not find one the most important pieces to her costume, which ignited an outburst from Mahiru, which, in turn, had startled Karen, causing the brunette to release the curtain as a result.

And despite being under the disapproving gaze of Mahiru and the worried gaze of Karen, Hikari only shrugged in her usual stoic manner, which elicited an exasperated sigh from the female garbed in green.

"Why didn't you say anything about it while we were getting dressed?"

"You and Karen had already finished by the time I noticed it was missing."

"And you're just now bringing this up right when it's almost time for the show to start?"

"Better late than never, isn't it?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Karen interjected between the two before Mahiru could dissolve into a full blown panic attack. "Let's just calm down for a bit. If Mahiru says she laid it out for you in the dressing room with the rest of your costume, Hikari, then it's gotta be in there. Maybe it rolled off the table or something. Stuff like that happens everyday. You two stay right here while I go check. Five minutes tops."

Bunching up the red garbs of her costume in her hands, the brunette walked briskly through the backstage area with the goal of reaching the dressing room.

* * *

While everyone involved in tonight's production hustled and bustled about in the backstage area in an attempt to tie up some loose ends before the play began, the dressing room was silent despite the fact that there were four people left inside.

Two of the girls from class B were focused on the task at hand, which consisted solely of helping the two leads prepare for tonight's show, and in order to speed up the process, both of the class B girls had decided to kill two birds with one stone. So, while one was assisting Maya with her first costume of the night, the other sat across from Claudine, carefully applying her makeup without any mistakes.

Once those tasks would be finished, they would switch between leads. Claudine would be fitted into her first costume of the night, which would be her peasant maid outfit, and Maya would be seated for the application of her face. Simple and quick. Amemiya would surely be proud once she saw the fruits of their labor.

Meanwhile, Claudine was sitting comfortably as one of the two class B students delicately applied her makeup, making sure to be as quick and as methodical as she possibly could lest she make a mistake and risk smudging her work trying to wipe said mistake away.

And despite her back being turned away from the other two occupants on the other side of the room, Claudine didn't need to look behind her or at the reflection in the mirror to know Maya's gaze was on her back. Not when she could _feel _it piercing through her flesh and into her soul.

If she didn't have a multitude of cosmetics being applied to her face at that moment, the blonde would have most assuredly rolled her eyes, but instead she settled for a small huff, which the class B student took notice of.

"My apologies, Saijou-san," She said, placing the cap on the tube of mascara and setting it to the side with a clatter before moving to pick out something else. "We are almost done here."

"No, I am the one that should be apologizing," Claudine began, silently damning Tendou Maya and her strong aura. "That was not directed at you. Please forgive me. Take all the time you need."

Maya snickered behind her, and of course, the tall brunette had the absolute gall to make it the most elegant sound Claudine had ever heard, which only served to visibly bristle her even further. It took all of the blonde's strength and willpower not to reach over to the nearest object and chuck it straight at the only offending female in the room.

But with Claudine's luck, Maya's sharp reflexes would have perhaps kicked in and caught whatever object she would have blindly chosen to throw. Truly infuriating.

This was one of the many things Claudine had been thankful for. Even though she and the academy's top star were now romantically involved, their relationship had not changed in the slightest. They still bickered here and there over the smallest things (mainly on Claudine's part while Maya listened with that irritating ass smirk like always) and kept each other in line both in the classroom and during practice, but the unintentional purpose of hiding the elephant in the room had disappeared.

Feelings did not have to be hidden or forced away by stubborn pride anymore, and because of that very reason, Maya and Claudine were able to meet each other halfway, which felt way better than still being stuck in the same old stalemate they had been in since they had first met.

Claudine's mind wandered over to the memory of when she and Maya had first broken the news to their friends and how Hikari had sat there on the sofa with the most satisfied smirk the blonde had ever seen the dark-haired female wear at the recognition of how she had won the bet.

And also how Hikari, in a small bout of exhilaration after achieving victory, stood up from the sofa and threw her dagger (a war heirloom passed down through the many generations of her family that she just so happened to be cleaning at that point in time), the tip of the shiny blade penetrating the wall instead of Kaoruko, who just so happened to duck out of the way just in the nick of time before shouting at the dark-haired female.

_"Has anyone ever told you that you have a serious impulse control problem?!"_

And Claudine remembered how that had been the most inappropriate time to laugh, but she had did it anyway. Never would she ever hold back her feelings again. Not when she felt so free. And when Maya and the rest of their friends had joined in with laughter of their own, the feeling of freedom had amplified even more.

"All done, Tendou-san," The class B student who was helping Maya get dressed finally spoke. "When Saijou-san is through with her makeup, you'll switch places with her."

"We're all done here, too," The other student out of class B replied, as she finished up the remainder of Claudine's face and brought a hand up to sweep through the blonde's bangs for the perfect angle they should be at. "I don't even know why I'm doing this part because I'll just have to do it all over again when you're finished getting dressed."

She swept through them a couple more times until she waved the same hand dismissively. "Oh the hell with it! All I'm doing is just wasting time!" She exclaimed, which caused the other three people in the room to laugh. Then she motioned toward Maya. "I'm ready for you now, Tendou-san!"

Claudine stood from her seat and began making her way over to where her first costume, the peasant maid outfit, was waiting for her in the arms of the other class B student. But before the blonde could get there, Maya stopped her in her tracks by placing a gentle hand on the crook of Claudine's arm before slowly sliding it down to intertwine with her own.

"Your beauty outshines even the brightest star, _ma Claudine_," Maya said softly. "Let us give our best performance to the audience here tonight, shall we?"

Claudine slightly tightened her grip on Maya's hand before replying. "I'm ready when you are, _ma Maya_. I always have been. _J'ai toujours été."_

"Tonight it is I who will follow you," The tall brunette replied, bringing her other hand up to gently touch the underside of the blonde's chin, slightly tilting her head up so their eyes could meet. "So, in that regard, _I _am ready when _you _are."

And in that moment, Claudine's eyes molted into crimson steel. "I have not failed you yet, Tendou Maya, and I never intend to do so. Tonight, as the top star, I will do my best for me and for you."

And before anything else could be said, the door to the dressing room swung open with a loud bang as it connected with the wall.

"I swear I did not mean to do that!" Karen walked in with both of her hands up in the air defensively before rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "I guess I just don't even know my own strength sometimes!"

That's when the brunette's brain registered the scene laid out in front of her. Maya and Claudine being physically close like this had came to be nothing exactly brand new over the last couple of weeks considering the nature of their relationship, but at that moment it looked as if Claudine was borderline about to shove her tongue down Maya's throat any moment now judging by the look in her eyes, which caused Karen to flail nervously as a result, almost tripping over her fairy costume as she hurriedly searched for Hikari's wand.

"You guys wouldn't have happened to notice a wand lying around here, have you?" She said quickly. "Hikari says she left it in here, but I don't know where exactly."

But before anyone in the room could give a response, Karen eyed the very object she had been searching for under the table and quickly bent down to snatch it up.

"Aha!" She exclaimed, holding up the prop in victory. "Found it!"

"It's a good thing, too," Claudine began once she and Maya reluctantly broke away from each other. "Because someone could have easily stepped on it by accident and broken it in two. If that would have happened, Amemiya would have most assuredly thrown a fit, and that's the last thing we need before going on stage."

"Claudine is correct," Maya interjected. "I have the utmost respect for Amemiya-san and what she does for us behind the scenes, but the last thing we need is something else that will send her nerves over the edge. Please tell Kagura-san she needs to be a bit more careful with where she places her things."

Karen nodded. "Okay! You know how Hikari gets sometimes before these things! She gets so nervous that she would forget her own head if it wasn't already attached to her body! But I promise she will do better next time, Tendou-san! Mahiru and I will be there to help, too!"

Maya nodded with a small smile. "Of course, Aijou-san. Of course."

"Oh!" Karen shouted, realizing she was the one holding up the preparation of the two lead actresses. "Don't mind me! I'm just gonna go run this to Hikari! You guys go back to what you were doing! I'll see you out there on the stage!"

And with that, the brunette hurriedly made her way out of the room, a bit of time passing by before she doubled back to the dressing room, grabbing the handle of the door and giving the four females in the room a sheepish smile before slamming it shut behind her.

"And she talks about Kagura being forgetful?" Claudine asked. "_Du pot et du bouilloire, beaucoup?"_

Maya giggled. "Would we have them any other way, _ma Claudine_?"

"I suppose you're right." The blonde sighed, gently easing passed Maya so she could make her way over to get dressed while the tall brunette traveled in the opposite direction for her makeup.

* * *

"It just doesn't make any sense to me, Kaoruko," Futaba said as she leaned back on the wall and crossed her arms. "What the hell is a raceway bag, anyway?"

Kaoruko released an annoyed huff. "That's not the point, Futaba-han! It's supposed to be a joke! Not rocket science! Do you honestly not know how to spell?"

"Of course I can spell, Kaoruko! I'm just not understanding the gist of what you're getting at! You can't fit an elephant in any kind of bag to begin with!" The redhead argued.

This time, the blue-haired devil sighed, disappointed that her lover did not say the punchline of the joke. She had wanted to have at least one good laugh before it was time to go onstage, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen.

But then Kaoruko caught a glimpse of a head of purple-hair out of her peripheral vision, and her hopes of a good laugh before having to resort to serious mode throughout the duration of the play flared back to life. The class representative was pretty sharp, so there was definitely a high chance that she would understand the blue-haired devil's joke that would apparently have to be answered by someone with a high ass IQ because no one else understood it. So with that in mind, she called over to the purple-haired female who wasn't doing much of anything besides conversing with Nana and a couple of the stagehands.

"Hoshimi-han! Can you come over here for just a second, pretty please?" Kaoruko called out sweetly, which emitted an eye roll from Futaba.

Junna turned her attention from the stagehands and Nana, nodding in the blue-haired devil's direction before politely excusing herself from the conversation and making her way over to where she was needed, her tall lover following right behind her.

"Yes, Hanayagi-san? Do you need something?" Junna inquired, the crown that she had been carrying almost all night still in hand.

"I have a joke for you, and so far no one has been able to understand it. You should be able to get it, though, since you're sharp as a tack and all." The blue-haired devil explained with a small grin.

The purple-haired female sighed, but for once in her young life it wasn't one out of exasperation. "Okay."

Kaoruko cleared her throat. "How do you fit an elephant into a raceway bag?"

"A raceway bag?" Junna repeated as she raised a confused eyebrow, adjusting her glasses with her free hand as she did so.

"Thank you! I basically said the exact same thing!" Futaba butted in, throwing her hands up in the air. "See, Kaoruko? I'm not the only one who doesn't know what the hell that is!"

"Hush, Futaba-han," Kaoruko waved a hand in the redhead's direction. "Do you know how, Hoshimi-han?"

The purple-haired female seemed to take the time to think it over for just a bit before she finally relented. "I haven't the slightest clue."

"You take the "R" out of "race" and the "F" out of "way." Kaoruko replied, crossing her arms and waiting to gauge the class representative's response.

Junna and Nana both looked at each other in confusion before the former looked back toward Kaoruko, her confusion very evident this time because of the way her eyebrows were knitted as she gave her answer.

"What kind of sense does that even make? First of all, there's no "F" in way-"

And before Junna could explain her answer further, hard laughter erupted out of the depth's of Kaoruko's lungs, causing her shoulders to tremor as a result. The incident was loud enough to make everyone in the backstage area abruptly stop what they were doing in order to see what the blue-haired devil had done this time.

"Oh my god, how old are you?" Futaba sighed, rubbing the back of her head as she did so.

"I'm inclined to agree with Isurugi-san," Junna chimed in, already feeling the vein in her forehead begin to throb. It was already beginning to be one hell of a night, and the play hadn't even started yet. "Real mature."

Behind her, Nana couldn't help but giggle at the interaction between her friends. If she'd had her phone on her at that moment, she definitely would've snuck a couple of quick photos out of the deal.

As soon as her laughter died down, Kaoruko sniffled, dabbing at her eyes with the side of her thumb, careful not to screw up her makeup. "Oh, that was great!" Then she placed her hands on both sides of Junna's shoulders. "Don't ever change, Hoshimi-han! You're one of the good ones!"

Regardless of the headache the purple-haired female felt coming on, she placed a hand on one of the blue-haired devil's shoulders in return, giving her a genuine smile.

"You are, too, Hanayagi-san," Junna replied, pausing for just a bit in thought before adding. "When you want to be."

Futaba guffawed. "Understatement of the century!"

"Smartasses!" Kaoruko retorted with a one-fingered salute to both of the laughing females. "Both of you can seriously bite me!" And once things calmed down, she began looking around the backstage area. "Anyway, does anyone know the whereabouts of the three stooges?"

"I can't believe it's almost showtime!" Karen all but shouted as the trio appeared from the entrance that led to the hallway and made their way to their friends. "Are you nervous, Hikari?"

"Just in my hands." The dark-haired female admitted quietly, causing both Karen and Mahiru to spur into action by taking her shaking hands into their own and massaging them delicately.

"Take it easy," Mahiru whispered soothingly. "Once we get out there and get going, you will be fine, Hikari. I promise."

Two different sets of footsteps merged into each girl's range of hearing before anything else could be said and weren't surprised to see that they belonged to both Amemiya and Masai as the pair stopped just in front of them

"There you are!" Amemiya called out with a proud smile, but then when the realization of what, or rather who, was missing registered in her brain, that proud smile slowly began to fall from her face. "Where are my two stars?"

And as if on cue, both Claudine and Maya emerged from the entrance to the hallway, and once Amemiya caught sight of them, she immediately enveloped both the blonde and the towering brunette in a relieved embrace, which served to stun the whole cast. "There you are! You both look amazing!"

"What did I tell you guys before?" Kaoruko whispered. "What a kiss-ass."

The blue-haired devil's comment rendered a defeated sigh from Futaba, not even bothering to chide the other girl for it whatsoever, only because she couldn't really disagree with Kaoruko. But there was no way in hell she was saying that out loud. Not when it would most likely give the blue-haired female the satisfaction and possibly cause her to let another ass kissing comment fly. The last thing Futaba wanted was to let Amemiya overhear Kaoruko and risk her blowing a gasket over it.

"Is Amemiya-san gonna cry?" Karen prodded Mahiru quietly, who only shrugged her shoulders in response as she looked on at the scene in an almost doe-eyed trance.

The class B student finally broke away from the two lead actresses before placing her hands on their shoulders and gently leading them to the other girls. "Since you are finally all together, I can say what I need to say before we start this thing. It won't take long."

Once Claudine and Maya eventually melded in with the rest of the girls, Kaoruko couldn't help but give the tall brunette next to her a quick once over before wolf whistling.

"You clean up nicely, Tendou-han." The blue-haired devil whispered.

Maya grinned as she whispered back in reply. "As do you, Hanayagi-san."

"Why, of course!" Kaoruko returned with a self-satisfied smile plastered on her face.

"Okay, we're all here, aren't we?" Amemiya called out as she looked over the cast and crew that had eventually all gathered around. "Great!" She clapped her hands together before continuing. "It's almost time! How are we feeling?"

"Nervous." Hikari answered solemnly despite the pale greenish hue her face had taken on, the nervousness having moved from her hands to her stomach as soon as Amemiya announced it was almost time to begin the show.

Mahiru sensed the dark-haired girl's distress and stopped massaging her hand in order to reach out and place that same hand on Hikari's stomach in an attempt to calm the nausea she was undoubtedly feeling.

"Someone get her a bucket!" She called out to the entire backstage area in distress.

But Karen had already beaten her to it.

After quickly scanning the entire area for something that could be used as a means to catch anything that came out of Hikari while in the midst of her nauseous stupor, the brunette spotted a bucket over in the farthest corner and zoomed into its immediate direction, accidentally shoulder checking Claudine as she did so, who voiced her surprise with an angry _"Regarde où tu vas, espèce d'idiot!"_, which Karen had replied to with a shout of "I don't know what you just said, but I'm sorry, Kuro-chan!"

Grabbing the bucket by the handle and hauling ass back over to her two companions, the brunette placed the object in front of the dark-haired female, who only looked down into it with a raised eyebrow before holding back a retch, which only served to turn her face an even darker shade of green.

Hikari was almost always nervous before a show and the level of the aforementioned nervousness varied. Sometimes the dark-haired female would just be jittery in her hands like she had been earlier or it would take an extreme turn that lead to nausea and other bowel problems that Hikari would prefer not to speak out loud about.

And even after all this time, she refused to throw up in front of her friends. One, because she was stubborn as all hell, and two, if she even showed any kind of weakness to Amemiya and the others, then they would most likely pull her from the show altogether and send her back to the dorms with some over the counter nausea medication that some student had volunteered to offer her. She couldn't and wouldn't do it. She would endure the nervousness no matter what. For Hikari, it was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation every single time.

That's when Karen, after placing the bucket down and sensing that Hikari had been on the verge of getting sick in front of everyone, hauled ass to the bathroom with a cup she had scrambled around to find before coming out with said cup filled to the brim with cold water and bending down to offer it to the sickly-looking dark-haired female.

"Here, Hikari!" Karen encouraged, releasing her hold on the cup once she felt the other female get a good grip on it. "Cold water helped last time, so drink up!"

And Hikari did just that. Taking small sips as slowly as she could as a means to not upset her stomach any further. Once she felt the rage inside her stomach begin to calm down, she took bigger gulps but remained drinking at a slow pace. The green shade on her face began to fade with the more sips she took, and then it reverted back to a pale green before disappearing completely once she drained the whole cup dry.

"Better?" Mahiru was the first to prod as she watched Hikari wipe away the excess water that had spilled out of her mouth and down her chin on accident.

"Much better," The smile on Hikari's face was small but genuine. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, Hikari!" Karen grinned, giving the other female a thumbs up gesture. "We can't be the three fairies if there's just two of us, after all!"

"I think that's the fastest I have ever seen Karen move if you want me to be completely honest," Junna whispered to her tall lover, who was standing next to her at that moment in time. "If she could do that every morning on a school day, then that would save me a whole lot of trouble since I'm running out of excuses to tell the teacher in order to cover for her."

"If it's for Hikari or Mahiru, then Karen would go to the ends of the earth for them. That's what happens when you're in love, Junna." Nana replied while keeping her eyes on the trio ahead of them.

Junna paused for a split second as she joined Nana in watching Karen and Mahiru help Hikari to her feet, staying close to her in order to make sure she was steady and would not be a fall risk, then she spoke. "I suppose you're right."

"Everything okay, you three?" Amemiya inquired. "Kagura, are you going to be able to go on tonight?"

Once her bearings were gathered after the brief battle with nausea, Hikari nodded once in Amemiya's direction, which was all the class B student needed for confirmation.

"Excellent!" She said with a clap of her hands. "It's that kind of determination that makes Seisho so great and prestigious! It does not matter what we, the students of this academy, are dealing with privately because in the end we will always persevere! The hard work and talent we have here is what makes Seisho Music Academy one of the best schools in the country! You have all worked so hard to get this far, and it has most assuredly paid off! Class B, you have done your part, and you have done it well! Every backdrop, every prop, every costume that was made by your hand will be something to remember for everyone out there in the seats tonight! You should be proud of yourselves! Class A, every practice run we have done over the last few weeks has been absolutely flawless! We had a few rough patches at the very beginning with the time constraint and all, but even then, no one here doubted you! And tonight, your performance will be one for the ages! Why? Because we are the students of Seisho Music Academy! We are proof that hard work can pay off in the end! So, let's go out there and show them what we can do one more time! Because we are who?"

"Seisho Music Academy!"

"Who?"

"Seisho Music Academy!"

"Alright! Enough of this High School Musical bullshit!" Kaoruko interrupted irritably, but judging by the small, proud grin she was sporting, she wasn't irritated in the slightest. "We can all hold hands and kiss later! But right now, ladies, the show must go on!"

Amemiya's speech had fired all of them up and the dramatic flair in which the blue-haired devil had added in right after her own input had been the gasoline thats served to make the fire burn brighter. They were all ready.

"You all know what to do! Masai and I will go out onstage and do the introduction, and once that is over, we will begin! So those involved in the first scene should go ahead and prepare! Good luck to everyone tonight!"

And with that, everyone in the production crew took off into different directions in order to hurry up and prepare. The crew in charge of makeup and costumes stayed there in the backstage area to check, double check, and triple check that no makeup had been smudged and that the costumes still looked presentable and ready with the primary focus being on everyone in the main cast with the exclusion of Maya and Claudine, who would make their appearances in later scenes.

Once Junna had been deemed good to go, she placed the king's crown atop her head. "We are really doing this, aren't we?"

"Well, we didn't spend most of our time these last few days practicing for nothing, Jun," Futaba replied, coming up behind the purple-haired female and placing her hands atop her shoulders. "It's here, it's real, and we're gonna kick its ass."

"Oh please," Kaoruko decided to jump in with her own input. "We are going to do way more to its ass than that, Futaba-han, which may or may not include certain acts of a sexual nature, but I refuse to go into any further details only because there is a lady present."

And before anyone could say anything, the blue-haired devil reached over and playfully punched the tall brunette in the shoulder. "See? I got your back, Tendou-han."

"How very noble of you to do so, Hanayagi-san." Maya replied, unable to prevent a small smile from taking over her face.

From where she was standing, Claudine's eyes rolled so far back in her head that they probably could have gotten stuck like that permanently and released a scoff that quite possibly could have been comparable to that of a fire-breathing dragon.

Nana, quickly sensing Claudine's distress, reached out in her direction, her hand containing a small green colored package with individually foil wrapped sticks of wintergreen gum inside it.

"Here," She whispered. "You're going to need this for later, Kuro-chan."

Claudine immediately stiffened at Nana's implication. Not only was she scripted to kiss Maya once but _twice_. The first would be in the scene when the prince would awaken the princess by true love's kiss and then in the final scene when the prince and the princess danced together in front of the king's court.

No, she hadn't forgotten about those particular scenes. How could she when she and Maya both had gotten their fair share of practice and preparation for them in private? And there was absolutely no trace of fear inside her that either one of them would screw up, so what was this feeling she had?

In the end, Claudine just chalked it up to being a simple case of nerves and politely accepted Nana's offering, unwrapping the foil packaging and tossing the folded stick of gum into her mouth.

"We're ready for you, Hoshimi-san! Daiba-san!" One of the class B students called out after she and one of her fellow classmates had finished rolling out the thrones of the king and queen while another had rolled out the backdrop of the inside of the castle.

Junna grabbed ahold of the curtain as she turned to call out to the others behind her in the backstage area. "They're ready for us! Isurugi-san! Hanayagi-san! You two will stand here at the curtain until we give you your cues!"

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Kaoruko replied boredly, stretching her arms out with a yawn before taking Maleficent's scepter from the class B student passing by. "As soon as this is over with, I'm going to bed. Afterparty be damned."

"No, you're going to stay awake and help us clean up in order to make up for cutting a trail back to the dorms directly after the curtain call last year just so you wouldn't have to pitch in," Futaba added sternly before turning her attention behind her in order to call out to Claudine, missing the offended and appalled look on Kaoruko's face. "Yo, Kuroko! You haven't said much tonight! How are you feeling?"

From where she had been leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, chewing the wintergreen gum in her mouth slowly, Claudine shrugged her shoulders. "Right now I feel like a goat."

Maya, who had parked her behind in one of the foldable chairs in the backstage area, looked over to her blonde-headed love and slightly raised a perfect eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate on why she felt that way.

Futaba was also confused. "What do you mean?"

"Because of the way I chew my gum." The blonde finally elaborated, which caused Maya to release a small chuckle once she understood what Claudine was trying to say.

"But you have always chewed your gum in that manner, Claudine."

The tall brunette's statement caused the blonde to scoff.

Normally, she would have been surprised to learn about the fact that Maya had apparently been paying attention to the little details about her like the way in which she chewed gum, but now that everything had been revealed and things had became different, Claudine was not surprised at all. In fact, she expected it. After all, she and Maya had both kept a close eye on each other ever since the day they first met. So of course her tall lover had paid attention to those trivial little details about her.

"Okay, alpaca," Claudine fired back sarcastically without any malicious intent whatsoever, moving away from the wall in order to take a seat beside Maya in another foldable chair, crossing one leg over the other. "You literally do the same thing."

Maya hummed. "I cannot necessarily disagree with you since I have never watched myself chew it. However, if I do, then it is not something I do voluntarily."

The blonde scoffed. "And you think I do it voluntarily?"

"I said nothing of the sort, Claudine."

"Really? Because to me it sounded like you were implying it?"

"I was not trying to."

And as the two lovers continued bickering the background, Futaba couldn't help but chuckle. "Some things never change, do they?"

"So it would seem, Futaba-han," Kaoruko replied. "So it would seem."

"Ladies and gentlemen," Some of the girls backstage tensed up at the sound of the ending to Amemiya's introduction while some released shaky breaths. "We, the ninety-ninth class of Seisho Academy present to you, _Sleeping Beauty_!"

And the curtain was pulled back and the narration began once Amemiya and Masai left the stage and made their way to their own seats reserved in the audience.

* * *

**A/N: ****So, please pretend the elephant in a raceway bag joke works here. I know they're Japanese, but please pretend. XD**

**The other part will be here soon!**

**Once again, I apologize for this thing being a big gigantic mess!**

**Love y'all! Until next time!**

**-54**


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